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awesomebrandi's review against another edition
3.0
This is a dual timeline historical fiction novel about a historian (modern) and a historical, real life shipwreck from the early 1800s. This is my second Patti Callahan (Henry) novel, and I feel basically the same about this one as I did the other one that I read.
The good:
-I appreciate the author worked to be sensitive to the topic of slavery and enslaved people, since this is set within that era. Some of it still felt a little too romanticized, but that goes along with her heavy handed style. But, I do truly feel she made an effort to be respectful to the history of the era.
-The historical elements based on truth were interesting. I would love to read a non-fiction book based on the Pulaski disaster. The authors notes were interesting, and she talked about how her interest in the Pulaski and the real life retrieval of it happened at the same time.
-There are some good quotes in here. A few.
The bad:
This author is so, so heavy handed. There is zero subtlety. It's like everything is constantly knocking you upside the head. It's cliche, predictable, and cheesy in so many ways. I honestly almost rated it two stars because I just got so exhausted trodding through the heavy handed, overly romanticized prose. I could not wait for the book to be over, honestly. Good idea, not my personal taste when it comes to execution.
Basically, a two star book, but she gets an extra star for being respectful and mindful of the history of enslaved people.
The good:
-I appreciate the author worked to be sensitive to the topic of slavery and enslaved people, since this is set within that era. Some of it still felt a little too romanticized, but that goes along with her heavy handed style. But, I do truly feel she made an effort to be respectful to the history of the era.
-The historical elements based on truth were interesting. I would love to read a non-fiction book based on the Pulaski disaster. The authors notes were interesting, and she talked about how her interest in the Pulaski and the real life retrieval of it happened at the same time.
-There are some good quotes in here. A few.
The bad:
This author is so, so heavy handed. There is zero subtlety. It's like everything is constantly knocking you upside the head. It's cliche, predictable, and cheesy in so many ways. I honestly almost rated it two stars because I just got so exhausted trodding through the heavy handed, overly romanticized prose. I could not wait for the book to be over, honestly. Good idea, not my personal taste when it comes to execution.
Basically, a two star book, but she gets an extra star for being respectful and mindful of the history of enslaved people.
kimreadz's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this book very much, but it got off to a slow start. The book is told from three points of view in alternating timelines—Augusta Longstreet and her niece Lilly Forsyth in 1838 when the disaster took place, and Everly Winthrop in current day, when the story of the disaster is being uncovered. While alternating timelines is a common technique that I normally enjoy, I found it to be a little distracting in this book. I was really engrossed in the 1838 timeline and wanted to get to the story! However, it didn’t take long before I was enjoying both stories.
One thing I really enjoyed was following Everly, the museum curator hired to put the Pulaski exhibit together, on her journey to uncover the family history of the Longstreet family. As a family historian, I could really relate to her hunt, and her excitement when she uncovered details that let her, not to a conclusion, but to more searching. I think family historians in particular would enjoy reading this book.
I enjoyed the characters in the book, particularly Augusta. She was a strong, yet vunerable, woman and I enjoyed watching her grow and survive the shipwreck. I’ve always been fascinated with the story of the Titanic, and reading about the actions and fates of the passengers of this ship was just as engrossing. [confession; when I chose this book, I knew it was a bout a shipwreck, but I confused ‘Savannah’ with ‘Sultana’ so did not get the shipwreck I thought I was going to be reading about.] I thought some of the ‘romance’ of the story was a little predictable, but I did really enjoy the interaction of Everly and Maddox, the leader of the diving expedition. He was a character that I really enjoyed.
Like all good historical fiction does, this book inspired me to ‘read more about it’! Book clubs will enjoy this book and particularly enjoy discussing ‘survival’ and the different levels of meaning illustrated in this book.
I won a Kindle copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
My rating: ★★★★½
One thing I really enjoyed was following Everly, the museum curator hired to put the Pulaski exhibit together, on her journey to uncover the family history of the Longstreet family. As a family historian, I could really relate to her hunt, and her excitement when she uncovered details that let her, not to a conclusion, but to more searching. I think family historians in particular would enjoy reading this book.
I enjoyed the characters in the book, particularly Augusta. She was a strong, yet vunerable, woman and I enjoyed watching her grow and survive the shipwreck. I’ve always been fascinated with the story of the Titanic, and reading about the actions and fates of the passengers of this ship was just as engrossing. [confession; when I chose this book, I knew it was a bout a shipwreck, but I confused ‘Savannah’ with ‘Sultana’ so did not get the shipwreck I thought I was going to be reading about.] I thought some of the ‘romance’ of the story was a little predictable, but I did really enjoy the interaction of Everly and Maddox, the leader of the diving expedition. He was a character that I really enjoyed.
Like all good historical fiction does, this book inspired me to ‘read more about it’! Book clubs will enjoy this book and particularly enjoy discussing ‘survival’ and the different levels of meaning illustrated in this book.
I won a Kindle copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
My rating: ★★★★½
house_full_of_books's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
kllyfst's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
mdpbernal's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
lisao's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
julieg14's review
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Informative
lnoelle's review against another edition
4.0
Very enjoyable read. Even though I am somewhat tired of alternating timelines, I thought the author did a good job with this and I found myself interested in both of them. I also liked the way the storylines were tied together. I was pleasantly surprised with how much of the story was tied to the actual historical accounts of the calamity at sea as well as also enjoying the author's composite characters. Without a complete spoiler, I did feel that the culmination of Everly's story could have been a bit more developed and bit less "happy ending" to make it more realistic. That said - I still enjoyed the read very much.
eyreibreathe's review against another edition
4.0
This was a stunning read! The same richness in storytelling that I so loved in Callahan's previous book was alive in this one as well. You all know that I'm all about atmosphere... I live for those books in which I'm fully immersed in the setting, and I experienced that with in spades with Surviving Savannah. I was completely enraptured in this story of devastation and survival. As I became so attached to the characters, I found myself reaching for tissues more than once as the heartache and the sheer lengths they had to go to in order to survive leapt off the page. It was all the more moving and fascinating to know this is based upon a true story. Surviving Savannah sealed the deal for me - Patti Callahan is officially an auto-buy author for me.
heathih70's review against another edition
5.0
I often leave stars for my reviews but rarely write an actual review. However, this book is one that touched me to the core. Learning about the lives of the people that survived this terrible tragedy and how they survived was inspiring. Realizing that how we survive tragedy and what we deal with it afterwards shows who we truly are brought tears to my cheeks. I would gladly give this book more than five stars if I could