hiltzmoore's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoy these characters and was pleased that this book tackles the War of 1812, which I know incredibly little about. I didn't like that the book dumped us back into the plot YEARS later than where the last book left off, with the transitional flashbacks not really doing the family story justice. I will definitely continue with the series, but need to pick the next book up sooner this time, so that my memory helps fill in the gaps better than it did for this book.
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
3.0
I couldn't bring myself to like this novel as much as the others in the series. As a bit of a recap, the series starts out with Elizabeth coming to America from England to be a school teacher. A self professed spinster, she is surprised when she falls in love with outdoors-man Nathaniel Bonner. She elopes with him in an effort to not only be with him forever, but also restore property rightfully to the people who own it. The next novel is a bit down the road and she has just given birth to twins. They are kidnapped and Nathaniel and Elizabeth must travel to Scotland to get them back. From here we journey back to America many years down the road. This story is more about Nathaniel's daughter from his first wife and her learning to be a doctor despite her mixed heritage and the fact that she is a woman.
Finally in this novel yet another great many years have passed. Hannah has come back after losing both her child and her husband. Lost in spirit she only lives day to day in repitition. Lily, one of the twins is dealing with her own love life and whether she loves the dashing Scot Simon or the married man in town. She decides to go to Canada to study art for awhile and get away from everything. Meanwhile, her twin Daniel has gone off to join the war and fight. In doing so, he is captured and injured. Hannah and their cousin from Scotland, Jennet sneak in as nursemaids to help care for him and hopefully rescue him. There are some suspicious of them however, so they must tread carefully if they have hopes of saving him and the other prisoners.
My biggest complaint about this book would be the lack of writing about Nathaniel and Elizabeth. This was originally their story and it seems like they have become merely background characters in it. Also, the characters I did care about, like Hannah are not themselves. Granted she goes through a traumatic experience in this book but there was not as much depth to her character as in previous books. The characters the book did focus on, Jennet and Lily, weren't really characters I cared too much about. I would have rather heard more on the characters I was attached to already.
As far as plot goes for this book, it had some interesting ideas but I don't think they were well carried out. What happened in the novel should have been exciting, but instead dragged out rather slowly. I lost interest several times and caught myself skimming the endless "letters" included in the novel.
On another note, I do always enjoy Donati's writing style. Her background as a linguist makes the accents interesting and fairly realistic. She also includes description, but not too much that you tire of reading the book. While she does allude to some risque things in her book, they are not heavily described so even more timid readers can enjoy the book.
I'll continue reading the story of course, but I hope Donati goes back to what drew me to the story in the first place. She has a great set of original characters, and she should use them to her advantage.
Fire Along the Sky
Copyright 2004
608 pages
Finally in this novel yet another great many years have passed. Hannah has come back after losing both her child and her husband. Lost in spirit she only lives day to day in repitition. Lily, one of the twins is dealing with her own love life and whether she loves the dashing Scot Simon or the married man in town. She decides to go to Canada to study art for awhile and get away from everything. Meanwhile, her twin Daniel has gone off to join the war and fight. In doing so, he is captured and injured. Hannah and their cousin from Scotland, Jennet sneak in as nursemaids to help care for him and hopefully rescue him. There are some suspicious of them however, so they must tread carefully if they have hopes of saving him and the other prisoners.
My biggest complaint about this book would be the lack of writing about Nathaniel and Elizabeth. This was originally their story and it seems like they have become merely background characters in it. Also, the characters I did care about, like Hannah are not themselves. Granted she goes through a traumatic experience in this book but there was not as much depth to her character as in previous books. The characters the book did focus on, Jennet and Lily, weren't really characters I cared too much about. I would have rather heard more on the characters I was attached to already.
As far as plot goes for this book, it had some interesting ideas but I don't think they were well carried out. What happened in the novel should have been exciting, but instead dragged out rather slowly. I lost interest several times and caught myself skimming the endless "letters" included in the novel.
On another note, I do always enjoy Donati's writing style. Her background as a linguist makes the accents interesting and fairly realistic. She also includes description, but not too much that you tire of reading the book. While she does allude to some risque things in her book, they are not heavily described so even more timid readers can enjoy the book.
I'll continue reading the story of course, but I hope Donati goes back to what drew me to the story in the first place. She has a great set of original characters, and she should use them to her advantage.
Fire Along the Sky
Copyright 2004
608 pages
kstep1805's review against another edition
3.0
Better than the last book but I was interested in Hannah's story and she just skipped it! Why? Hannah is all messed up and we don't really see why. Lily's story is the most enjoyable in this book. Better than the last but nothing like the first book.
martacorreia's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.75
Didn't like it as much as the previous ones ( Wildernees 2 and 3). I love the fact that main characters change through all the books. But sometimes I got the feeling that the two main character of the first two book ( Elisabeth and Nathaniel) were deprived of their main characteristics. I get the feeling that Elisabeth has become a bit selfish and boring, when she was once so brave and brite. Lily is also a very complicated character as I didn't understand most of the times why she acted the way she did. Dispite all of this I enjoyed it very much, but can not give it a very high grade since I didn't quite liked the way some characters turn out to be.
chantalob1's review against another edition
4.0
Good book. Although I am still having a hard time with the things that happen that the author skips over and expects that we just assume x and y happened. I wish she would have written a few more books and not jumped ahead so much.
bridgetrose89's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book. As good as the first three in the series.
jeansbookbag's review against another edition
4.0
I definitely liked this one more than the previous book in the series. I ended up loving Lily’s story and am glad she got to come into her own in this book. And though it often rips my heart out, I appreciate that Donati doesn’t sugar-coat what life was like during this era. As much as I might wish they would all just have perfect, easy lives, it’s very unrealistic. I’m moving right into the next one in the series and I can’t wait!
lisadee's review against another edition
5.0
I finished this book and waited very impatiently for the next book in the series. Great read.
joabroda's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I started this series nearly 5 years ago-read the first three and then was never able to find the next 3. I forgot all about it. Thanks to a challenge I was doing I discovered this one my shelf.
This is the saga of the Bonner Family, living on a mountain near the village of Paradise, in up state New York. The story, in book 1, begins in 1792. In Book 4 we are in the year 1812 and war has returned. The children are all grown and scattering and a cousin from Scotland arrives unexpectedly. I was afraid that I would be lost, as it took so long for me to return to this series. Surprisingly. I was able to recall quite a bit from the previous books. I suppose that is, in part, due to Donati's wonderful writing. She pulled me right back into the lives of all these wonderful characters.
Looks like Michigan is headed for total lock-down again and I am looking forward to escaping into the Bonner family's world with books 5 and 6.
Highly recommend the series to anyone who loves HF and great family saga.
This is the saga of the Bonner Family, living on a mountain near the village of Paradise, in up state New York. The story, in book 1, begins in 1792. In Book 4 we are in the year 1812 and war has returned. The children are all grown and scattering and a cousin from Scotland arrives unexpectedly. I was afraid that I would be lost, as it took so long for me to return to this series. Surprisingly. I was able to recall quite a bit from the previous books. I suppose that is, in part, due to Donati's wonderful writing. She pulled me right back into the lives of all these wonderful characters.
Looks like Michigan is headed for total lock-down again and I am looking forward to escaping into the Bonner family's world with books 5 and 6.
Highly recommend the series to anyone who loves HF and great family saga.