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A review by readingkatastrophiee
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted this to be more of a character study, but unfortunately the characters were all pretty archetypal and basic. Everyone just exists as a tool to progress the story. Elsa is the one character you could maybe argue had some depth and growth. And then maaaaaaaybe Loreda. Regardless, I accepted that with little complaint and even appreciated the role Elsa filled as protagonist. Very cool to have a more timid wallflower as the lead, even if that could have still been explored further.
Other than that, I didn’t have much issue with the story until the end. Overall, the pacing was fine. It was generally fast-paced with a couple minor moments when I thought perhaps we were getting too much description of day-to-day life or wondered what the heck else could possibly happen lol.
Then we get to the ending, which is where the majority of my grievances lie. When I was roughly 100 pages from the end (book is about 450 pages), I was really wondering when things were going to start to wrap up just because it didn’t feel like the story was winding down at all despite being somewhat close to the end. Then at like T-minus 70 pages it just goes WHAMBAMALAKAZAM and the pacing becomes a ridiculous break-neck speed to the point where I damn near got whiplash. I was smiling and chuckling incredulously at happenings that were clearly intended to be sad or emotional. And I’m an easy crier! I teared up at other things in this book, so it’s not like I’m Stone-Cold Steve Austin.
And ultimately the ending left me wondering what the point of it all was. Like idk why I just read all of that. For what.
3 stars because, aside from the ending, I had an enjoyable (can I say that despite this being a story of suffering???) time and learned a lot about the Dust Bowl era. I know next to nothing about history, but it felt accurate enough to me. Also was not boring.
Other than that, I didn’t have much issue with the story until the end. Overall, the pacing was fine. It was generally fast-paced with a couple minor moments when I thought perhaps we were getting too much description of day-to-day life or wondered what the heck else could possibly happen lol.
Then we get to the ending, which is where the majority of my grievances lie. When I was roughly 100 pages from the end (book is about 450 pages), I was really wondering when things were going to start to wrap up just because it didn’t feel like the story was winding down at all despite being somewhat close to the end. Then at like T-minus 70 pages it just goes WHAMBAMALAKAZAM and the pacing becomes a ridiculous break-neck speed to the point where I damn near got whiplash. I was smiling and chuckling incredulously at happenings that were clearly intended to be sad or emotional. And I’m an easy crier! I teared up at other things in this book, so it’s not like I’m Stone-Cold Steve Austin.
And ultimately the ending left me wondering what the point of it all was. Like idk why I just read all of that. For what.
3 stars because, aside from the ending, I had an enjoyable (can I say that despite this being a story of suffering???) time and learned a lot about the Dust Bowl era. I know next to nothing about history, but it felt accurate enough to me. Also was not boring.
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief