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kijoweaver's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very good memoir. I live in central Florida so the local history interests me. I am also currently at Disney world so first hand accounts of the transition from orange groves and swamps to theme parks is fascinating. Anne’s family history is both heart-breaking and heart-warming at times.
I usually prefer to listen to memoirs for a more authentic experience but I think this one is better read. The narration didn’t work for me, sorry
*Thanks to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for this advance audiobook for review
I usually prefer to listen to memoirs for a more authentic experience but I think this one is better read. The narration didn’t work for me, sorry
*Thanks to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for this advance audiobook for review
cxffee_addxct's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this book made me also long for the Central Florida of the past, even though I've never spent more than a week in Florida.
Anne Hull's descriptions of the orange groves and the small towns peppered through the central column of the Sunshine State drew me in and placed me there, especially in that roadside stand - standing on the dirt floor, surrounded by the rattle of the fruit washer and smelling the overpowering orange blossoms perfuming the air. Through the Groves was a captivating, heartwrenching, emotional read from the very beginning to the very last page. I can't wait to read more from Anne Hull.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. for the ARC and the chance to read this great book!
Anne Hull's descriptions of the orange groves and the small towns peppered through the central column of the Sunshine State drew me in and placed me there, especially in that roadside stand - standing on the dirt floor, surrounded by the rattle of the fruit washer and smelling the overpowering orange blossoms perfuming the air. Through the Groves was a captivating, heartwrenching, emotional read from the very beginning to the very last page. I can't wait to read more from Anne Hull.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. for the ARC and the chance to read this great book!
karadavis1990's review against another edition
fast-paced
2.5
2.5. I like what this author has done for veterans. Unfortunately, I just didn't find her early life story, or how she told it in this book, very interesting. I listened on audible and it was kind of like listening to your grandmother tell the same story over and over and try to make it something profound.
tegallu's review against another edition
3.0
Hull’s vivid childhood reminiscences from citrus country unearthed some of my own forgotten memories of being a kid (getting shamed by my grandma for going shirtless like my brothers, being told to reach over and steer the truck when my dad needed to eat or had to jot down an idea while pulling a trailer down the highway.) Within Hull’s stories of bumping along in her dad’s truck and navigating family and school her (and my) childhood feelings of freedom and power, but also helplessness and fear were clear. Short and interesting read, I wish there was just a bit more continuity or closure between some of the memories and I would have been interested to follow her life further into adulthood.
mollylovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely a time and a place. Would be great in a shorter format.
webdoyenne's review against another edition
3.0
I need to quit reading so many memoirs. I feel like a voyeur.
thereadingrunnner's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 only because it's a memoir and I feel a little bad for giving less. I received a copy of this memoir via a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for my honest review.
Coming of age memoir that was just a flat out bore. To the author and those she knows, I'm sure it's very meaningful, just as anyone feels about their own past. But although we all have a past, they are not all worthwhile enough to the outsider to write about. Well written as obviously Anne Hull is a gifted writer, but this was a snoozefest in which I was thrilled to get to the final page.
Coming of age memoir that was just a flat out bore. To the author and those she knows, I'm sure it's very meaningful, just as anyone feels about their own past. But although we all have a past, they are not all worthwhile enough to the outsider to write about. Well written as obviously Anne Hull is a gifted writer, but this was a snoozefest in which I was thrilled to get to the final page.