A review by hanpear
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

adventurous challenging emotional informative sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

my first kristin hannah book so i didn’t know what to expect. it was a beautiful story, and difficult 95% of the time, very gripping despite how sad & difficult it all was. i don’t think i could’ve pushed through it so quickly if i hadn’t been listening to it. 

plot: 3
i could have read a story about any of these characters doing anything and enjoyed it, so the plot itself felt pretty middling. i didn’t know where the story was headed most of the time, it felt slow in parts, others i felt were purely unecessary. and things happened that i didn’t like at all. plus it’s just really depressing.

characters: 5 
lovable characters who felt like real people. they were very flawed and often made the same mistakes, and had eventual character growth that felt very convincing and realistic. i especially loved elsa and rose. i appreciated the addition of loretta’s perspective. don’t even get me started on jack!!

world building: 5  
it’s historical fiction, the world was pre-built for the author but it was so thoroughly researched. the descriptions of food, the political environment, the different types of lives US Americans were living at the time. if this has been fantasy it would have been very clear as a reader with few gaps.

writing: 4.25 a little cheesy at moments, but overall very strong, the type of descriptive that really sets a scene. i know exactly what i’m looking and what my characters look like and where we are. some things did get repetitive.

overall enjoyment: 4.25
the subject matter brings down the score here, it’s hard to truly enjoy a book about living in seemingly endless poverty. but was i gripped the whole time? did i giggle a bit at certain moments? did i feel for those imaginary people? did i cry? no, but i could have. i loved the themes of family, mother & daughter relationships, coming of age (late in life, too) and overall getting a glimpse into the lives of what could have been real people in my country less than 100 years ago

overall score: 4.3
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