Great story. The story of the Tupelo tornado and how the colored people were treated compared to the white people was sad and interesting.

This is a story that is based on true events. It was well researched and the vast details of the destruction of the 1936 tornado in Tupelo, MS was stocking. The two main characters were really strong and well developed. The story was will developed. The only thing that I was not too big on was there was too much detail that seemed not needed and added nothing except extra words. It felt like the author was trying to be poetic with the story and that was the only part I wasn't into.

This book was a bit too wordy for me. There was just a lot of pages for the story told and could easily had been shorter than it actually was. There were elements of suspense and I did want to find out what happened to the characters which kept me reading, but I don't know if I would necessarily recommend this book to anyone.

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. As always, an honest review.

The main characters, Dovey and Jo, survived the tornado in Tupelo that killed so many. They're both searching and caring for their family in the aftermath of this terrible tragedy. Dovey is African American and Jo is white, living in the southern states in the 1930s. Their lives are very different, but connected in so many ways before the tornado occurred. And even more so afterwards. This historical fiction novel tells the story of people dealing with the terrible aftermath of the storm, over the period of a week.

I enjoyed Promise by Minrose Gwin for it's in depth perspective of this historical event, great character development and insight, and unique lovely writing style. I do wish there was a bit more focus on the entire tragic event as a whole, not just focusing on those two characters mainly.

Focusing mainly on Dovey and Jo's perspective made the story feel a bit unbalanced at times. I wish there were more references to the historical aspect of the tornado, not just those two stories. Also, it was a slower read for me.

I enjoyed that the stories were told without giving labels to things. For example, the mom most likely had postpartum depression, but it is never labeled as that. Instead, she is described as being sad, lethargic, and minimally caring for her baby. I also appreciated the writing style; wonderfully descriptive and a perfect mix of dream like and practical. The character descriptions and development along the way makes the story.

In general, I enjoyed the historical fiction novel, Promise by Minrose Twin. The story gives a voice and perspective to the people often ignored in the terrible tornado of Tupelo.

What I liked -- the history, the character development, the exploration of race within a tragedy.

What I didn't like -- so slow, so depressing (I know -- it's a tragic situation), and I suppose the writing was appropriate to that.

Redeeming factor -- it wasn't completely without hope.

Started off really liking the book, as the author did a wonderful job with characterization and atmosphere, however as the story wove on the constant reference to past events became a little too monotonous. By the middle of the book it became a little too slow for me and I have to admit I rushed to finish the book. With some better editing this could've been an amazing read.

Great book! The writer was so descriptive and I felt like i was there. Highly recommend

Fascinating premise, the deadly 1936 tornado in Tupelo Mississippi. Good research establishing the town, the disaster, medical care at the time (ugh) and basic understanding of race relations. I got the feeling I was being "white-splained" and I think that's accurate. Also the prose style is wordy, lots of pretty literary flourishes surround some pretty bland and basic situations; and the plot points, the rapes, the suffering, and the apparent mistaken identity reveals are approached elliptically enough to blunt their impact. So it started off pretty interesting and quickly descended into Ladies Home Journal. I'm not sure I can finish it, the "surprise" ending is being foreshadowed and telescoped to such a huge extent.
No, a Tupelo wash woman, probably illiterate, did not know or care about Hitler in 1936. Very few Americans had even heard of him in 1936. And oh, please, if you're going to give your character "visions" let us in on that eccentricity early in the novel. And her 10-year-old heroine knows entirely too much about germ theory. Well, a general anachronism is probably hard to avoid. This is not a bad book, it's just not as good as I hoped, not as good as it could have been. Probably a better job than I could do.