passionatereader78's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-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
4.5
This is an emotional story. A historical fiction. It's about a challenging lifestyle during a horrible time in history. Elsa is a frail woman or at least thats what her parents have beaten into her. She will never marry, have children, or have a job. At age twenty-five, Elsa starts to rebel against what she's been told. She meets Rafe and gets pregnant. They get married and live with his family on their farm. Elsa's happiness is short lived. When the dust storms take over Texas, Elsa has to decide how to save her family. Do they stay in Texas and fight for their land or do they head to California (The land of milk and honey)not knowing what waits for them? The relationship between Elsa and Loreda(Elsa's daughter)is one filled with turmoil. They love each other and want what's best for their family. They both have different ideas of how to get it. I enjoyed the writing on both sides of their relationship. I thought Elsa was doing what she thought was best from her past experiences and Lareda is young and full of life. She's ready to fight injustice not realizing what she will have to sacrifice to get what she wants. Laredo is whiny at times and I would have liked about fifty to a hundred pages less. I don't think we needed everything that was written.
Graphic: Racism, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Body shaming
Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Child death, and Animal death
Minor: Medical trauma, Medical content, Police brutality, and Sexual content
corriejn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Move over, Grapes of Wrath. I got through this entire book without realizing it's by the author of "The Nightingale," but I'm not surprised-- similar depth of characters and bringing to life historical settings.
Graphic: Xenophobia, Abandonment, and Classism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Gun violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, Grief, Terminal illness, Blood, Chronic illness, Medical content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Sexual content, Child death, and Death
Minor: Vomit
The audiobook version includes a really lovely short interview with the author and the narrator, that sheds interesting light on the process of writing the book and creating the characters, as well as the process of bringing the story to life via the audiobook narration.
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