Monday, June 17, 2019

"Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline


Orphan Train intertwines the stories of two girls searching for a home, one a child in foster care in present-day Maine, the other sent west on an orphan train in the 1920s.  As the story unfolds, we can see parallels between their situations, even though they're nearly a hundred years apart.  Also, the two main characters interact in the modern-day sections, which is especially neat.

I did like a lot about this book.  The writing is good, the characters are fully fleshed out and kept me invested in their lives, and I liked the way both story lines resolved.  But it's not a book I feel I'll want to read over and over.  Which is kind of exciting, in a weird way, because it's been on my TBR shelves for several years, and now it's not only off those shelves, but I won't have to find a space for it on my to-keep shelves either!  So, I'm glad I read it, but I won't be keeping it.

(From my Instagram account)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-16 for the depiction of a man trying to violate a ten-year-old girl, a make-out scene, and some bad language.


This is my 8th book read and reviewed for the Mount TBR Challenge 2019.

6 comments:

  1. I really liked Orphan Train but, like you, I wouldn't reread it. It was a draining story at times because of how hard the characters' lives were at times.

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    1. Lydia, yes! It was kind of hard to read sometimes because... things went so badly for so long, especially in the past parts.

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  2. I felt the same way about this book--I liked it, but don't want to own it or read it again.

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    Replies
    1. Lark, that seems to be a common reaction to this particular book!

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  3. Well, I'm still gonna read it, because now it's on MY bookshelf - thanks to my generous daughter! Thanks, Hamlette!

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    Replies
    1. Mom, never know! You might like it better than I did. I did like it, just not enough to keep it ;-)

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