mekse's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
sonia_reppe's review
5.0
Ellen is at that age where she finds true love for the first time and starts to see her parents as people—not just as parents. A beautiful coming-of-age story, real, heartfelt, painful—I loved it.
leleroulant's review
5.0
Check out my review on my blog http://melsbooksandblatherings.blogspot.com/
tjwallace04's review
5.0
This book is just purely lovely. The writing is beautiful. The pacing is mellow, and the action is sparse, yet I never wanted to put the book down. And that's because the narrator and protagonist, Ellen Webb, is so likeable, and her journey through her first few years as an adult in 1940s Montana (and briefly Minnesota) feels so real and relatable, even today. Her evolving relationship with her parents - separating from them and learning to love them as fallible humans - is something that most people have experienced. I feel like Ellen Webb is a more honest and introspective version of Laura Ingalls Wilder in "These Happy Golden Years" (which, don't get me wrong, is also a favorite book of mine). When "Winter What" was over, I wished there was more. It's too bad Mildred Walker's books are so hard to find these days, but I will persevere!
suannelaqueur's review
4.0
I kept picking this book up from the library shelf and putting it back. Finally I took it on vacation and was wonderfully surprised. It's a little book written in 1944 that packs a very subtle punch between the pages (it won a National Book Award when first published). You should read it someday. Really.
hjh's review
4.0
I really liked this book...it is quiet, about every-day life..a well-written "coming of age" story.
whatjennyreadsinmontana's review
3.0
Well paced and beautifully written, but the author didn't seem to trust the reader enough to not beat us over the head with the wheat/love metaphor. Also, Ellen's pining over Gil didn't make a lot of sense for her character... But maybe first loves never really make sense.
cmbohn's review
4.0
Very slow building story. I've seen a lot of reviews comparing this to Willa Cather, but Willa did it better. Still, I'm glad I stuck with it.
beadeeh's review
3.0
I can't decide if this book is three or four stars. This is longer than usual as book club is three weeks off and I need to remember what I'm thinking. The language is beautiful, but the writing has some substantial problems to me. On one hand, the descriptions of the setting are lovely-- it reminds mw of My Antonia in its love for the landscape, but it's less boring and repetitious. The three main characters are beautifully drawn. But the metaphors are heavy-handed. And I don't know why Ellen loved Gil. He's handsome and has good manners? I grew impatient with her pining for this boy who never really wanted to know her until after the fact. Speaking of impatient: 100+ pages of her agonizing over her obvious misunderstanding of her parents' relationship. The book doesn't work for me and her angst is irritating because her big final revelation I've known all along. I once heard John Green criticize his own work for being too much telling and not enough showing, and that's what I think is going on here.