Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

24 reviews

abbasaurusrex's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was my first Kristin Hannah. I saw someone describe the author’s books as the Hallmark movies of historical fiction and now, having finished this, I can confirm that is accurate. Equal parts trauma porn and pearl clutching, this book just did not strike the right chords for me. I appreciated the view into a particular place and time in history that I knew little about, but found it a bit overdone, as it seems like the author is trying to address every single hardship of the Dust Bowl farmers/migrant workers through a single family’s experience. By the end of the book I almost felt sorry for the characters, not as victims of history, but as victims of the author. I just don’t enjoy watching people get dumped on, no matter how “historically accurate” the author might claim the events to be. The character development also didn’t hit. I found all of the characters to be a bit one-note and inconsistent, and their “development” (if you can call it that) seemed forced and incomplete. It’s almost like the author said, “I wanna write about the Dust Bowl,” instead of saying “here are some themes I want to explore, and I think the Dust Bowl and this particular family is the appropriate context in which to examine those themes.” She somehow manages to do too much and too little at the same time. Finally, there is not a single person of color in the narrative. I would have appreciated a more diverse perspective for a book that tries to tackle such a massive part of US history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Xenophobia, Classism, and Sexism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Police brutality, Violence, and Child death

Minor: Pregnancy and Deportation

franklola's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Sexism, Chronic illness, Bullying, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Classism, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death, Abandonment, Animal death, and Child death

nurseann7161's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Classism, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Slavery

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Violence, Medical content, Gun violence, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Excrement, Sexism, and Police brutality

mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Animal death, Violence, Classism, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment and Sexism

adamsbookshelf's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 This was a truly amazing book. The author went into such detail with their writing and it made me sob twice. The first half was the stronger of the two but overall such a strong book! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, War, Murder, and Sexism

happyreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Death, Hate crime, Death of parent, Gun violence, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Bullying, and Abandonment

Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol

c_nagels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Racial slurs

kels24's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abandonment, Bullying, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, Xenophobia, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Child death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Death

Minor: Grief

carol_c26's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I forgot about the struggles that people faced during these times tbh. would've liked to see more representation as communities of color faced even more layers of discrimination but did love the anti capitalism pro union sentiment 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Sexism, and Animal death

lillythebluepaladin's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

“Hope is a coin I carry”

Okay… I really want to give this at least a 4,75🌟 review, but I really can’t. Had to take some stars away for the three n words in this book. That was very much uncalled for, and if that word is something that you really don’t want to read, or racism is something that you just don’t need in your life right now, then definitely skip this. Take care, a book is not worth your mental health❤️

This book and it’s journey is a HARD READ, long and hard and so challenging, but the ending was nice and satisfying. This book will make your throat dry!

Many negative reviews talks about how annoying they found Elsa’s lack of confidence and how much she found herself ugly, but they forget how easy it is to view yourself as an ugly and boring person worth nothing, when those are the opinions thrown upon you your entire life. I saw a lot of myself and my own traumas in Elsa’s attitude, and it made sense for her to only gain confidence and self worth when she did, which was sadly so late in her life. She did everything she could to be the best mother possible, and this book has even made me want to work on some of my own familial relationships, which I did not ask for omfg rude

Loreda’s transformation from an annoying brat of a preteen, to a young confident woman who wants to see change in the world, and who finally learns to love and appreciate her mother was a wonderful transformation, and I really started to love her in the second half of the entire thing. She was a wonderful big sister, and an awesome commie feminist. 

So yeah, Kristin Hannah is a great writer.
But again, ma’am what the fuck, three n words?!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Classism, Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Violence, Sexism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Gun violence