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A review by thegeekybibliophile
Hanna Who Fell from the Sky by Christopher Meades
3.0
Rating: 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.
The secluded, polygamous community of Clearhaven is the only place seventeen-year-old Hanna has ever known. Days away from her eighteenth birthday, Hanna is expected to become the fifth wife of a wealthy man in the community—a marriage that will also serve to improve her impoverished family's financial status, to boot. Hanna isn't looking forward to marriage however, especially after she meets a young man named Daniel who makes her question everything she's ever believed.
What I liked:
A story set within a polygamous community is always a sure-fire way to pique my interest. I suppose it's because I heard so much about Warren Jeffs and the FLDS on television for so long. (To be clear, this novel has nothing to do with the FLDS, though the dynamics between the wives of Hanna's father, Jotham, reminded me of things I'd read in former FLDS members memoirs.) This is what made me want to read the book when I saw the description of it.
The relationship Hanna had with her brothers and sisters, particularly with Emily was nice to read about. Emily has scoliosis, and Hanna was made responsible for her care. As a result, the sisters were very close.
The questions Hanna had about the outside world, her thoughts about Brother Paul (the religious leader of Clearhaven) and others within both the community and her family were interesting to read about.
What I didn't like:
When Hanna rebelled against marrying Edwin, her father used her love for Emily against her. Jotham threatened to have eleven-year-old Emily marry Edwin, if Hanna would not. Yes, I get it: Jotham is a despicable, abusive father who only cared how he would benefit from Hanna marrying Edwin... but to use her disabled little sister to force her hand? Really? I'd rather he did something that surprised me. Using Emily was too simple a solution, not to mention, a distasteful one.
The magical aspects of the story fell completely flat for me. These events never made sense to me, and the meaning behind Hanna and how she "fell from the sky" completely escaped me. The author's note at the end explained it... and it still didn't make sense to me, because I certainly hadn't come close to figuring it out while I read the book.
Final thoughts:
While certain portions of this story were enjoyable to read, this book wasn't at all what I expected it to be. I would have enjoyed reading this much more if the magical aspects had been left out completely—the story made a lot more sense prior to introduction of that.
I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Park Row Books via Edelweiss.
The secluded, polygamous community of Clearhaven is the only place seventeen-year-old Hanna has ever known. Days away from her eighteenth birthday, Hanna is expected to become the fifth wife of a wealthy man in the community—a marriage that will also serve to improve her impoverished family's financial status, to boot. Hanna isn't looking forward to marriage however, especially after she meets a young man named Daniel who makes her question everything she's ever believed.
What I liked:
A story set within a polygamous community is always a sure-fire way to pique my interest. I suppose it's because I heard so much about Warren Jeffs and the FLDS on television for so long. (To be clear, this novel has nothing to do with the FLDS, though the dynamics between the wives of Hanna's father, Jotham, reminded me of things I'd read in former FLDS members memoirs.) This is what made me want to read the book when I saw the description of it.
The relationship Hanna had with her brothers and sisters, particularly with Emily was nice to read about. Emily has scoliosis, and Hanna was made responsible for her care. As a result, the sisters were very close.
The questions Hanna had about the outside world, her thoughts about Brother Paul (the religious leader of Clearhaven) and others within both the community and her family were interesting to read about.
What I didn't like:
When Hanna rebelled against marrying Edwin, her father used her love for Emily against her. Jotham threatened to have eleven-year-old Emily marry Edwin, if Hanna would not. Yes, I get it: Jotham is a despicable, abusive father who only cared how he would benefit from Hanna marrying Edwin... but to use her disabled little sister to force her hand? Really? I'd rather he did something that surprised me. Using Emily was too simple a solution, not to mention, a distasteful one.
The magical aspects of the story fell completely flat for me. These events never made sense to me, and the meaning behind Hanna and how she "fell from the sky" completely escaped me. The author's note at the end explained it... and it still didn't make sense to me, because I certainly hadn't come close to figuring it out while I read the book.
Final thoughts:
While certain portions of this story were enjoyable to read, this book wasn't at all what I expected it to be. I would have enjoyed reading this much more if the magical aspects had been left out completely—the story made a lot more sense prior to introduction of that.
I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Park Row Books via Edelweiss.