This was written in the tone of an actual immigrant. It was entertaining at first but as the events added up I was hoping for a deeper feel for the protagonist.
It was a well placed story highlighting a community I knew nothing about. I would talk more about it but the style was not my thing. I kept pushing myself to finish it but at a point I decided to give up. If the blurb sounds interesting one can give it a shot.
Since I did not read the entire book, I will not be reviewing it on social media

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, I’ll be honest. I have mixed feelings about this book. I’ll start with the positives. I loved the immigration stories and the main character, Martin, did such a good job at building bridges between his neighbors and friends of different cultures. But, this book covers SO MUCH TIME. In one paragraph, someone’s pregnant. In the next, the baby is here! I understand the author wanting to cover Martin’s life in its entirety, but I sometimes felt like events were rushed. Besides that, I really did think it was a nice story!

I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. The characters felt forced and unreal. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for honest review.

This is a fascinating historical story that traces the history of an immigrant from Croatia who arrives in San Francisco in 1904 to go to work with his uncle and learn to be a chef and build his family and their fortune, I found it well written and would recommend to any history lover

The story of an immigrant, who has to rebuild his life many times over.
This book is well researched and takes the reader to another time. Reading about the life of a person, across his lifetime is a precious experience and we get to enjoy that in this book. Especially as that also includes glimpses into the history that we have only read in the school curriculum.
I would recommend this book to everyone who loves reading historical fiction.

As a California girl myself, I was pleased to be given a copy of this book by Netgalley to read in exchange for feedback!

This book features impressive geographic hits throughout, starting in Croatia. I enjoyed Martin, and reading about his movements over the globe. Love for country, love won, love lost, chances taken - it's all in this book. He crosses the ocean, bounces in New York, and finally lands in Watsonville, California and from there grows his brood. The reader follows his experience of life in that area.

The next part of the book deals with World War II and how it affects the community, Martin and his family.

All that said, the story felt rushed along a timeline of events, places and people. I wanted more development of some of that - there's more material in this than just one book! The brothers in war, and all the distresses and damage of war could have been a book separate and apart, but related to Martin's story. From time to time there were statements that are informed by today's thinking, and that brought me out of the story. I doubt few people cared about community "diversity and unity" in those days and in those places, or thought those particular words to themselves in the 40's. Those are words from today's culture.

Still, it was good to read and think of all those who travel to other nations, bringing their hearts and hopes and hands to grow our world into a better place. Every single one of us have an immigrant's knapsack hanging on many branches an in our lovely family trees. I'm glad the author for shared hers in this book.

The California Immigrant is an enjoyable read that follows the lifespan of a Croatian immigrant Martin Petrovich to the United States in the early 1900s. Using the backdrop of Watsonville, California--a small town near San Francisco-- the author provides a story of attaining the American Dream while seamlessly intertwining the major historical events in the first half of the 1900s starting with the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 to the Korean War to the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. This story would appeal to any reader who enjoys history and the immigrant story.

An involving novel historical fiction at its best.A novel of a young refugee around ww2 coming to America building a life in a new world.#netgalley # independentbookpublisher.

I’ve never left a negative review, so this doesn’t sit comfortably with me. I couldn’t finish the book, I’m afraid, although I did really persevere - only got to 48%.
Hard to describe but it almost felt as if the original had been translated from another language. I felt it was written in an ‘old fashioned’ way, almost in the style of a Mills and Boon novel. I wanted to like it. Sorry for the poor review.

The California Immigrant by Barbara Anne King

This tale of a Croatian immigrant coming to California reads like an YA primer for American history from WWI to WWII. The author has done her research into the important events throughout the story, but it seems the characters are there in equal measure to the history.

Young Martin starts a family in the San Francisco area, and the story covers decades of happenings for him and his family. The author uses a lot of superlatives for her characters, as they are all just perfect at everything.

King uses a lot of trite expressions which may be new to young readers, but have lost their punch for most adults.The usual old fashioned stereotypes-unacceptable by today’s standards, but true to the times written about-are there: mostly about women, foreigners and others. There are many religious references in the story, and some marital love scenes, which are pretty PG rated.

I’m not sure of the the glowing reviews ahead of mine, but this wasn’t the book for me. I’ll give the novel three stars, however, as I sense it would appeal to a certain group of young historical fiction readers.

Barbara Anne King brings us a condensed saga on the success of the hardworking, God-fearing Croatian immigrants in California as they become ideal Americans.
Allegedly inspired by her own family history, Ms King tells the story of Martin Petrovich, a man of constant moral superiority, who leaves his native Croatia a pauper, but once in California works hard to establish successful businesses, inspire his family and community, serve in WWI, have his sons become WWII heroes, and eventually become major of his town.
This is a tale exemplifying the importance of freedom, aspiration, historical relevance, mettle, and the values of the Western world – never clearer than at the end of the story, when successful Petrovich returns to visit his struggling elderly sisters in Communist Yugoslavia.

Who would enjoy this
This is a book for those who want a feel good, from rags to riches American Dream story. It also provides an interesting insight into a particular community, as well as into the microcosm of the California rural ethic groups at very trying times.
If you are a reader who likes sagas, but cannot find the time for N volumes on a family’s lifespan, this could well satisfy the urge. Similarly, if you like history but not reading books on actual history, Ms King’s narrative will provide a lot of minutiae on the main events of a bit over 50 years.

Who should give this a pass
If you are world history and politically savvy, this story may not be for you. The narrative is heavily loaded with an agenda, as well as a religious angle, which probably are only really palatable to similarly minded readers.
If you don’t mind these characteristics, but do mind stilted dialogues with a clear aim to instruct, this book is not for you, either.

Conclusion
The chance to witness the inner workings of a specific minority community in America, particularly at a time of such conflict with the whole immigrant question, is a great premise. Particularly because, in this story, there are no ‘American born’ WASP characters to be seen. On the contrary, Watsonville comes out of these pages as populated merely by migrants: Croatians, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans, and the odd Jew (defined by his ethnicity, rather than nationality). Martin Petrovich’s clear desire to integrate and do away with racism is sadly curtailed by the underlying racism in the story, which are left unresolved: the whole uproar regarding the Chetnik film, the constant lack of full trust in Hector, the superiority of America over any other nation presented, etc.
Instead, Ms King repeatedly describes food, feasts, and attires, and leaves the reader to wonder at the real questions brought up: how did the Croatian community react to the rise of Tito? What happened to the black soldiers that befriended whites while in combat, once they returned to America? Why did the US and USSR engage in a cold war? What was the effect of American presence and politics in Europe and Asia after the wars? Or, how can they confuse the Baltic republics with the Ukraine? Considering Ms King’s professional background, these omissions/mistakes are quite a let down.
This book has a clear agenda, and it does very little to hide it. It is as clear and pedantic as the stilted dialogues full of needless data and high-faluttin’ language. As a result, its reader pool will necessarily be reduced to a very specific demographic.
Given this book as a draft, I would allocate a solid, no-nonsense editor to handle it. The ideas are good; the delivery, less so.

Multigenerational multicultural saga. A young man young man travels from Dubrovnik to San Francisco. He becomes an upstanding, successful citizen and bears witness to most major events of the 20th century. It was very interesting the way the author tied those events into his family history. At the same time, because it spanned so many years with so many characters it seemed a bit over ambitious at times.
I’d like to thankNet Galley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 3.75*

I decided to try the "read now" section of Net Galley. The California Immigrant sounded interesting. I chose it and downloaded it to my Kindle for an honest review.

At 5% I kept asking myself, do I really have to finish this? But I kept reading to 25% but quit there. I am sorry. I have never been one to care about wording or grammar while reading a book. The story itself is most important to me.

I have NEVER left a review if I felt a book was less than a 3. This is a first and it is ONLY because it has not yet been released and I feel that it can be greatly improved before releasing it to the public.

I truly feel if the book was rewritten with the same plot, characters and scenery, it could be a great book. I would personally love to re-read it after it gets reworked.

Here is what my issues with this book are...

Do you remember when back in high school when your English teacher kept telling you that you need to show, not tell?

The following is a quote from writing cooperative.com:

"3 Ways to Show, Not Tell Your Story.
Write your scenes so that they take place in real time. ...
Use description, action, and/or dialogue to put your reader in the story, but be careful to give just enough detail to trigger their imagination. ...
Avoid telling your readers about your characters' emotions."

Unfortunately, this author does not do this. 3/4's of the book thus far has been past tense. And on the one page in the same "scene", there is more than one tense used. Tense is very inconsistent.

I almost want to say that this is also told in "passive voice" as well but I'm not positive if it fits the full definition of that. But to me, it feels like it.

Here is a quote from chapter 18 of the book that bothers me.

"Martin had what all good chefs needed, and that was timing. Since the diners were one family who wanted to enjoy their meal together, it was important all of their entree arrived at the table at the same time. But until they did, Martin provided them with some little appetizers of tiny fried shrimp and calamari that Croatians are usually crazy about. He knew that would buy him some time while the customers indulged themselves. Most of the meals that were ordered required quick last-minute cooking with the exception of the bakalar, which had been simmering for hours just like Aunt Mirna's on Christmas Eve."

As you can see in this partial paragraph, it has parts of a great story, but it's just missing something because of the tenses used.

I'm sorry to have given an English lesson, but I needed to justify my opinion here. ALL of the other reviews here are 4* or 5*s. Everyone enjoyed the book. I just could NOT get through it.

TO THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR, I would love to get a new ARC AFTER it has been re-written.

I enjoyed reading this book and found the historical aspects very interesting. I would definitely recommend this book.