Couldn’t wait until it ended. Unrealistic, unsympathetic characters. Really enjoyed The Nightingale, but not this one.

This is a wonderful story of love and loss and finding new beginnings.

Kristen Hannah delivers again. It is not my favorite, but still captivating.

i was challenged to read this book with my bookclub. i usually stick to spicy fantasy romance, so this was definitely a change from that, but i gotta say...Just incredible. One of those books that changes life as you know it. makes you think, like really think about your own life. I really appreciated the accents, and learned so much about the Seige of Lenongrad. I CRIED so many times, and felt each loss and gain so deeply. highly recommend.

A bit slow to start with but the end totally made it worthwhile, it brought me to tears a number of times. So glad I pushed through

I was in tears almost the whole time!

Very, very good!

This book was tragic and beautiful! Such a roller-coaster and I was always on the edge of my seat. Captivating from beginning to end.

Another wonderful book by Kristen Hannah!

I love a good historical fiction read. And while I've cried a bit while reading books in the past, this book had me so emotionally invested in the story as a wife and mother, I mean I was physically sobbing experiencing Vera's grief along with her. The narrator's Russian accent was excellent and brought the book to life. This book has earned a spot in my top 5 best books of all time!

I truly enjoyed this book! The feelings I found myself feeling through the characters, caught me by surprise!

This book had a very slow start…. It was missing some key elements but it all came together in the end.

Enjoyed other K Hannah books BUT NOT THIS ONE. Drawn out. Who wants to listen to an hour of someone dying and others crying. I had to quit before i found out why the mother was do distant.

This was a marvelous book!

Loved this story.

Great

Great book

Loved this story. Kept me engaged and wondering what was going to happen next all the way to the end.

I couldn't stop listening!

Wow. Beautifully written and Heartbreakingly captivating.

Loved it! Loved the story within the story with a great ending.

This is a fabulous read! A story within a story. It catches your attention from the first paragraph.

I enjoyed the book for the most part but didn't care for the two sisters. I found them uninteresting and their interaction with each other full of pettiness. I sympathized with them, however, for how they were raised by a mother who didn't seem to love them but I felt more for their mother, given how traumatic her life was, losing both of her children and her first husband, only to learn, decades later, that her daughter and husband survived. I did not care for the narrator at all which made it difficult for me to listen. Her reflection of the sisters, especially, was flat. Listening on audiobooks was difficult because I'm so used to Libby where I can easily determine where I am in the book, change the speed of the narration and set a timer so I don't miss much when I fall asleep. All in all, an average experience for me.

I liked the way the famine was related but overall the plot twists were unrealistic and the characters too stereotypical

absolutely loved this story!

Great novel with a bit of a history lesson within the story,

Perhaps one of the best books I have ever listened to. For anyone looking at reviews prior to purchase do not hesitate to use your credit. This would make an incredible movie. Thank you Ms. Hannah for a thought provoking read.

I really like this author. It was a very good book. Interesting subject that I have never learned much about. A bit of a history lesson within the story, like the other books I have read by this author.

This story started off slow but by chapter ten it took off for me. By the end I ugly cried multiple times. Wow. And I’m so glad I listened rather than read because the accents from the narrator really brought the characters to life and captivated me.

The story within a story was better than the premise. It started slow….the characters aren’t as likable as you expect from Hannah’s work. Overall not great plot or resolution. And I found the whole thing rather depressing.

Incredible book, so well-written and narrator was good, I recommend!

Oh this book just wrecked my mama heart. So good, and beautifully written. I’m on a Kristin Hannah kick right now and this book is definitely in her top three. I do not think I’ve cried that hard over a story in a while. Or smiled. Worth the listen/read! So good.

Utterly heartbreaking. I learned a lot and felt even more.

I really enjoyed this book!

It took me a while to get into the book, but once the characters were well established, the pace picked up.

Good

Enjoyed the story!

The narrator was amazing and she read the story so well and with so much emotion.

I loved this.book. I laughed and cried. It was a beautiful read.

Wonderful book- great characters- enjoyed the family dynamics. Will listen again

This book is a painful read/listen. The first half of the book is almost unbearable to get through. It did pick up a little bit, but not enough. Kristin Hannah’s other books are excellent. But this one and Night Road are not worth your time. I literally had to check the internet to make sure there weren’t two authors with the same name. Move on to something else if you loved The Great Alone and Nightingale. This won’t do it for you.

Beautiful story.

I have mixed emotions about this book the beginning is long and drags on a bit but the ending is great! Overall I would recommend

I could barely get through the first 2 hours of listening. Boring!

I’m glad this isn’t the first Kristin Hannah book that I picked up or I probably wouldn’t have read another. Love Kristin Hannah reads but this one I could have done without! I just kept waiting for it to get good. It never did

Fascinating historical fiction.

I loved this book!! After I got into it I couldn’t stop listening!!

A hauntingly beautiful story that I didn't see emerging until quite far into the book. I enjoyed it and found it totally absorbing. Wept my eyes out in the last few chapters. One of my best 'reads' so far

Excellent book could not put it down. Highly recommend this book. Was sad when it was done.....love Kristin's books !!!

Needed an edit. Too much repetition in the first 2/3rds of the book. Had to hand on til the end to find out the mystery.

Winter Garden was a disappointment after Nightingale. The first two thirds of the book kept repeating the same thing over and over. I'm glad I hung on till the end even though I was ready to quit listening. I have enjoyed a number of Kristin Hannah's books and have learned they start out VERY slowly only to turn a corner and make me sit in my car long after I've gotten to my destination just so I hear what happens next! Throughout the first part of Winter Garden I kept reminding myself it should get better...and it did.

I did not like this book at all, which is unusual for me. Mostly I've really enjoyed all the audiobooks I've listened to even if they were not great stories. For me, I think that a combination of things made this book very hard to get through, but mainly the story itself was so boring. Six hours into the book and nothing had really happened to set up the story or keep the reader interested. Both the mother and the 2 sisters were really 2 dimensional characters and the relationship between them was very annoying. I, too, bought this book because I listened to the Nightingale, which was amazing. Winter garden cannot even come close. It's tough to say that the narrator was the issue because the book itself and the characters were so bad.

This book was great from the beginng to end. I did not want to stop listening. It is well written and well read.

Loved this book! Heart wrenching but truly beautiful story.

I loved every second of this story. Beautiful and heartbreaking I cried the entire time.

Get through the first half, it is worth it! Wonderful, haunting story.

Although this book seemed to start off a bit slow, I ended up loving it! Such an emotional and heartfelt story. I love Kristin Hannah's writing. It made me want to do my own research about Russia's history.

So disappointed after The Nightingale. I could not finish listening. It was painful. I got 1/3 through and couldn't stand the whining sisters. Don't waste your time on this one!

Very long and drawn out, but a haunting story beautifully read