Anonymous wrote:I know people rave about The Nightingale, but I just wasn't super-impressed with it. It was fine, but not the extraordinary work it was made out to be, in my opinion.

Same here. It was ok in general, and not helped by the fact that it started to feel like tragedy porn. The topic is obviously tough but whenever something could go wrong it did. And the rest of the story/writing/characters did not make up for it. I found the characters very flat.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks. So maybe I'll read Four Winds, but not if the main character's significant other is killed etc... am I safe to assume this will happen?

Do not read it!! The ending is awful and the whole thing feels like a physical and emotional slog.

Yes, it is pretty typical for her books to get bleak for the female lead. This was one thing I hated about the dust bowl one. Also true if the Great Alone, but it bothered me less in that one for some reason.

Her books have touched me and brought me to tears, but the same book can also annoy me to the point I never want to read any more of her books.

Summer Island was pretty good and light-ish The least trauma-filled one I’ve read so far but still heavy on relationships and families.