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jenfantoni's review against another edition
3.0
Read this as it was my book club’s choice for this month. I liked the different perspectives and I always love a main character from WV. I enjoyed the book overall but the story was a bit disjointed at times. The moral of this story is solid and I also enjoyed how the ending words of a chapter were then the title of next chapter.
marie5952's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
librarianjennifer's review
I thought the story was getting too bogged down by the Mary/Thatcher scientific chapters.
jrosek5's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
4.0
This isn’t out for ages so all I’ll say is that in UNSHELTERED Kingsolver has utilised two of my favourite literary devices: parallel narratives and a story where a house is one of the characters. She’s a wonder!
thetbrstack's review against another edition
5.0
A lovely book by a lovely writer. https://tbrstack.blogspot.com/2019/01/book-review-unsheltered.html
cassiscrusades's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jscheper's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
bethmara's review
3.0
I am a huge fan of Barbara Kingsglover and count Bean Trees as one of my all-time favorite books.
This dueling narrative tale probably hit me the wrong way given the unending hopelessness in both stories.
The first story is of a teacher in a dying college town trying to find meaning in recently published works of Charles Darwin. The second narrative is a modern tale of a family that lives in his house in Trump America.
Both stories have the protagonists confronted with circumstances they can't overcome, poverty, classism and more than a bit of misogyny.
Both protagonists in each time have to fight systems of healthcare and education which aren't designed to help struggling Americans. It's all frankly just really depressing.
There is a lot of real-world despair and the book frankly just made me very anxious which has never been my experience with Kingsglover.
I'm thinking maybe this was just the wrong book at the wrong time?
This dueling narrative tale probably hit me the wrong way given the unending hopelessness in both stories.
The first story is of a teacher in a dying college town trying to find meaning in recently published works of Charles Darwin. The second narrative is a modern tale of a family that lives in his house in Trump America.
Both stories have the protagonists confronted with circumstances they can't overcome, poverty, classism and more than a bit of misogyny.
Both protagonists in each time have to fight systems of healthcare and education which aren't designed to help struggling Americans. It's all frankly just really depressing.
There is a lot of real-world despair and the book frankly just made me very anxious which has never been my experience with Kingsglover.
I'm thinking maybe this was just the wrong book at the wrong time?