To be honest I didn't intend to read this book. It's not at all the kind of book I'm usually interested in and I only read it because I accidentally requested it from Netgalley. Oops. On the plus side, it has a pretty great, spunky heroine named Hanna, a hunky love interest, a vaguely supernaturalish sub-plot and lots of bizzaro polygamous cult business . If all those things are your cup of tea, this book is for you. It didn't do much for me, but the writing is good, and it's a nice quick read and it would be good for vacation or beach reading.

I had high hopes for this book. Years ago I read The Last Hiccup, which was recommended to me by a bookseller at Bookshop Santa Cruz. It was an unexpected, and wholly original delight. I keep seeing press for Hanna Who Fell From the Sky everywhere, so I was excited to read this.

However, the story never once grabbed me. I struggled through the first few chapters. I struggled to connect with the characters. I struggled to figure out what the heck was going on. Was I reading about a time in the distant past . . . or a a time more present? A recognized religious community (I thought Amish for awhile) . . . or some crazy doomsday cult? And then there was the nutty story about Hanna (who fell from the sky). Was this metaphor? Magical realism? A huge lie? To tell the truth, I'm still not sure, and I read the whole book.

The whole story felt vague, which may be why I never got into it. It would ripple along for awhile, and I would start to feel bored, and then something completely unexpected would happen, and while I wasn't bored anymore, I was really, really confused. I would even read back over the boring parts thinking I had missed something. But I hadn't, I just ended up reading the boring parts over again. Then the story ended, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Again, is it magical realism? Is it some insane metaphor? Is it satire? I wish I could tell what the point of this book was. And there were SO MANY unanswered questions, mostly from threads that appeared very suddenly in the last third of the book.

I feel like this could have been a great story, but all the weirdness within it just left me feeling like I had fallen from the sky, and I couldn't get my bearings. I know this author can write a great, interesting, funny book, but this wasn't any of these things.

Meades writing style is crisp and he spins an interesting tale. When all was said and done, I was left with too many loose ends. Do I see a sequel or did I mess something?

Hanna’s world in Clearhaven is one of male-dominated religion with sister wives and child brides and she's meant to marry soon. But all is not what it seems. There is more to Hanna than what she knows and more of the world that she longs to see. This is a strange and intriguing modern fairy tale.

Hanna lives in a secluded community named Clearhaven. In ten days time she will turn eighteen and at that time she will be obligated to marry a man chosen jointly by the head of the church and by her father. Since this community where she lives supports polygamy, Hanna is to become an older man’s fifth wife. Hanna is dreading the day of her upcoming marriage, and she has misgivings about continuing to live in the isolated community that supports polygamy and patriarchy that borders on misogyny. She dreams of leaving Clearhaven and of going to the city which lies beyond The Road but she worries about abandoning her mother and siblings. She also has concerns that she would not know how to survive in a city where everything would be so completely foreign to her.

Then she meets a young man named Daniel at a church function. Daniel has lived and traveled outside of Clearhaven. And he encourages Hanna to act on her beliefs and to follow her instincts to seek what is best for her future even if it means leaving her family behind in Clearhaven. Confusing matters even more for Hanna is the story of the details of her birth as told to her by her mother, Kara. Thus the plot brings Hanna to the point of indecision about whether or not she can break the bonds of family and religion to seek a new life, or whether she will stay to follow the traditions of the Clearhaven community.

The lifestyle of Clearhaven is somewhat cult-like and severe with the inhabitants being isolated from reality where the future of a young woman is predetermined not by her but by others. I was captivated by the story but also frustrated and upset by the boundaries placed on the women and children and even on the young men of the community.

There is a little bit of fantasy written into the book as one might note from the title. Even though at first I was a little skeptical about the unrealistic piece of the tale, I felt that the magical element of the story helped to alleviate some of the pain and suffering of life in Clearhaven both for Hanna and for me as a reader.

The characters, major and minor, are well-defined. The plot and theme allow the reader to see into a world that is different from the norm. And the narrative holds the reader attentive looking forward to uncovering details of Hanna’s future on each upcoming page. Moreover, it is certainly not the average coming of age story. And it is a powerful telling of family, religion, identity, and love.

This review is written from an ARC offered by the publisher through Net Galley.

I liked this story, very inventive and unique. I thought the heroes and villains were well crafted and that justice was served appropriately at the end.

An often touching, and sometimes strange, young woman’s story. In many ways, this is a coming to age story but a little different from most of us have come to expect from this kind of stories; therefore, an interesting read with full of surprises. After finishing the book, you will be left with a different idea of the strength of love, the worth of family, and the need to finding one self.

The wolves are closing in on Hanna. And not just the ones that live in the woods near her home.

She has never been beyond this place. The only ones who leave are the boys as they mature. Clearhaven doesn't have new residents and there is only one church. She never has questioned her life before, but as she matures and is to be wed, she begins to notice more.

Why does shes have 4 mothers and 14 siblings? Why is her father marrying her off to an old man?

Hanna's mother tells her she is special. She is meant for more than this life. That she fell from the sky and landed unscathed. And she did and has. Her father is a cruel man and if she refuses to go through with the wedding, he will just take it out on her siblings.

Then she meets Daniel. Daniel, who has taken her to other places and the man she loves. Will she have the strenth she needs to take what she wants?
A very well written book with interesting characters and the effects of cults and brainwashing.

Good job!

This had such a promising start and premise. Meades created a vivid cast of characters and setting and the stakes are immediately clear. Hanna will either the toe the line and become the fifth wife of a much older man or she'll leave the community and start over. Sprinkle in the story Hanna's mother tells her about her birth and you start to wonder if this magical realism or allegory. I was intrigued. But Hanna herself began to annoy me. There was too much back and forth between staying and going and how she felt about her upbringing and family. I tried to empathize because leaving an essentially polygynous cult would not be an easy decision, although she's already making other "disobedient" choices so it was hard to figure out why she felt obligated to stay. I think I needed more from Hanna. Instead of telling us she felt like two different people, I needed to see it. I needed her to be more than the oblivious golden girl all the men ogled. This is likely a case of "it's me, not you" and I'm confident most people will enjoy this one more than I did. I had a hard time putting it down, for one, and there's a lot of potential for a great discussion. I don't regret reading it, despite the rating.

Just didn't like it, quit about halfway through. No published review.

What sold me on this book: a young girl who has been raised in the secluded polygamist town of Clearhaven is soon to be married off to a man nearly three times her age.

What kept me reading: Hanna was relatable. She was a teen girl who had been told one thing all of her life, and after meeting a stranger and a talk with her mother, she finds out nothing is what she thought. The writing from Meades is enthralling. I could not put this book down, because at times it felt like pure poetry. There are times in this story that I want to just shake the characters. Yell "wake up," in their faces! Meades does a wonderful job putting the reader into Hanna's shoes, and helping you feel the warring thoughts and feelings going through her. There's mystery and so many questions that you'll start to ask once you start reading!

There is a little bit of a love story, but this is mostly, in my opinion, a unique coming of age story, with a fantastical bit of plot mixed in to take the heavy reality edge off.

I really enjoyed this story, and think lightning has struck with the girl who fell from the sky.

I loved this book! A very clever and unique story about a girl's desire for more than her predetermined fate. In order for Hanna to make a new life for herself however, she must leave the old one behind and cut all ties. How does one choose to save themselves and in doing so leave behind the siblings that she has protected their whole lives and will surely be subjected to the same fate after Hanna leaves? Thought provoking, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable I will definitely be recommending this as a must read!