Overall Opinion and Thoughts about Orphan Train
- Scott
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Overall Opinion and Thoughts about Orphan Train
What is your overall opinion of Orphan Train? Would you recommend others read it? Why or why not?
Please submit your actual rating of it using the Bookshelves page for Orphan Train.
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- e-tasana-williams
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I recommend others read/listen to this book. First, it introduced to me a part of American history with which I was unfamiliar. Second, the author's writing style flowed well between present and past. I never felt lost in the story or weary of the flashbacks. Third, the actors narrating the audiobook were superb. Never were the voices of different characters confused, or the narration unbearable. These two women did their homework, and read the novel as though they were performing it on stage or in a film. It was that engrossing. I've listened to many other audio books where the narrator stumbled over unfamiliar words, mixed up the voices of the characters, and/or made the listening otherwise difficult. Kudos to the author and the narrators!
- Gravy
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It just felt a little too clean cut for me.
I rated it a three, and am still glad to have read it.
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- gali
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- e-tasana-williams
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That was my reaction, too! I'd never heard of these, but looked up the history and learned more about them. Even with all of Vivian's traumatic experiences in the book, I can imagine that many of the outcomes of these orphans were far worse than hers was.gali wrote: I didn't know about the Orphan Trains before this book and was shocked by it...
-- July 1st, 2016, 10:54 pm --
The ends were tied up pretty neatly, weren't they? Perhaps knowing real-life outcomes of some of the orphans, the author wanted to share a story in which two orphans found a happy life with meaningful relationships...historical fiction rather than non-fiction?Gravy wrote:I enjoyed the characters and story, but felt that the characters would have both had more repercussions given what they went through.
It just felt a little too clean cut for me.
I rated it a three, and am still glad to have read it.
- Gravy
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Though, I would highly recommend it (it was a very good book) I just couldn't believe that either of them would've been as stable as they were. People don't just spontaneously heal.
The one nod toward this, which I really appreciated, was Vivian's feelings about finding her daughter.
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Grief is just love with no place to go.
- bookowlie
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Niamh/Dorothy/Vivian's life living with the different families was vivid and heartbreaking. The first family not allowing her to eat the food from the refrigerator and making her use the outhouse - I felt like crying. Of course, Mr. Grote's (the second foster family) attempted rape was horrifying to read. I was so overwhelmed by the descriptions of the orphan kids being made to work like slaves. The boys had it worse than the girls,with harder physical labor. I imagine the true stories from those days are even worse than what was written in this book.
What I liked best was Vivian's story in flashback. I always thought of rural Midwesterners in history as a stereotype of nice, hard-working farmers who sit around baking pies for the neighbors. It was shocked to read about how these children from the big cities were shipped off alone to become slaves for families.
I didn't care for the present day story with Molly as much. It just seemed like a convenient plot device to tell Vivian's story. Also, Vivian bumping into Dutchy at a later point seemed too neatly tied up, as well as a few minor plot points.
3 out of 4 stars (really 3 1/2)
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- e-tasana-williams
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I loved that part as well...and I didn't want the story to end there! I wanted to hear about the reconciliation, and learn about Molly's outcome as well. Alas, the author had to conclude the story at some point.Lulubelle wrote:I enjoyed this book very much. It was an easy engaging read, and I must admit I cried at the end when Vivian sees her granddaughter's red hair.
- bookowlie
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I agree with you, in that the book did not go into gory details that most assuredly were part of life for most of the orphans. Not having heard anything about the book prior to listening to it, I did not get that same "underwhelmed" feeling. It does seem that the reunion between Vivian and the daughter she gave away was too easily initiated. That's part of the reason I would have liked to read about what actually happened after the daughter's arrival...what was her life like? Did she always want to meet Vivian? Had she agreed to the meeting just to ask questions and give her a "my life was perfectly fine without you, thank you very much"? Like I said, I didn't want this story to end where it did.ashley_claire wrote:This book was a 3 star read for me. I've heard about this book for awhile and went into it looking forward to some emotional gut punches. When it didn't evoke all the feels in me like I wanted it to, I was left underwhelmed. I liked the story but think it was a bit overhyped for my personal taste. I agree that part of the problem was due to some issues being wrapped up a little too neatly.
- katiesquilts
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I think that's why I enjoyed the flashbacks more. The narrative was more interesting, so it was easier to get sucked into it. I also agree with @ashley_claire that the ending was a little underwhelming, but I would still give it at least 3 stars.
- bookowlie
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Well said. The mother-daughter reunion at the end just seemed too contrived. I liked their meeting after so many years, but it just seemed like a quick way to tie things up in a bow at the end. It was one of these books that i felt could have been really wonderful in the hands of a different writer. It was still a very good book...just not great.Eatsleaves wrote:I agree with you, in that the book did not go into gory details that most assuredly were part of life for most of the orphans. Not having heard anything about the book prior to listening to it, I did not get that same "underwhelmed" feeling. It does seem that the reunion between Vivian and the daughter she gave away was too easily initiated. That's part of the reason I would have liked to read about what actually happened after the daughter's arrival...what was her life like? Did she always want to meet Vivian? Had she agreed to the meeting just to ask questions and give her a "my life was perfectly fine without you, thank you very much"? Like I said, I didn't want this story to end where it did.ashley_claire wrote:This book was a 3 star read for me. I've heard about this book for awhile and went into it looking forward to some emotional gut punches. When it didn't evoke all the feels in me like I wanted it to, I was left underwhelmed. I liked the story but think it was a bit overhyped for my personal taste. I agree that part of the problem was due to some issues being wrapped up a little too neatly.