A review by alliepeduto
The Dakota Winters by Tom Barbash

3.0

I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would judging from other reviews. I agree that it meandered a bit in terms of plot, but I like historical fiction enough that I don’t mind the pop culture references and circumstances that author focused on. It feels a little strange to call a book set in 1980 “historical fiction,” but it was almost 40 years ago now, and it highlights a very particular time in our history (though the political and social justice issues felt eerily similar). I also had the advantage of learning a lot of history from this very particular year from a recent trip to Atlanta (I went to the Carter Presidential library and CNN headquarters) so it felt like an extension of all I learned there. Overall I wouldn’t recommend it to just anyone, and I don’t know how someone who loved during this year would feel about it, but it was an interesting and fun jaunt into my parents’ favorite decade.