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heavenbythesea's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
beautifully written, just the right touch of the supernatural
ahenso0242's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
4.0
the book does switch viewpoints from josephine & ava. josephine does switch from a more past tense (1800s) to less past tense (1900s) so that’s important to note as you change chapters.
it did take a minute to get into switching timelines, because there was such a gap but the stories are there. i’m not normally a historical fiction gal, but i enjoyed this. it wasn’t historical in the way of here’s your timeline of what happened on this day in 1803. the historical pieces are woven into the story v well making it feel like the characters are talking to you ig is the way to explain it?
anyways read it!!
it did take a minute to get into switching timelines, because there was such a gap but the stories are there. i’m not normally a historical fiction gal, but i enjoyed this. it wasn’t historical in the way of here’s your timeline of what happened on this day in 1803. the historical pieces are woven into the story v well making it feel like the characters are talking to you ig is the way to explain it?
anyways read it!!
cseibs's review against another edition
It had to work too hard for the connections between narratives and the characters were not well fleshed out. It left me confused by some of the actions, like how Martha played a role in her granddaughter's life at all, or why she didn't go live with her mother in the first place.
jwinchell's review against another edition
4.0
This is contemporary fiction and historical fiction wound into one complex tale of women’s survival of the clutch of racism in white women around them. Josephine, age 10 in 1855, and then as a grandma in 1924, is a midwife and a healer; she is worrying the growing up of her grandson Jericho, whose daffy Major and step-mom Eliza just got married and are soon to have a baby at the apex of this book. In 1855, Josephine is escaping slavery. In 2017, Ava is between jobs and settles for living with her elderly white grandma, a side of the family she has always been estranged from. There is also a boy in this generation, King, who moves to a new, very white middle school and who has precariously befriended white girls. These middle school boys are the foils for Ava and Josephine’s worries about growing up in these white centric worlds; how can they protect these black boys? Ava feels connected to Josephine and becomes something of a doula herself, like her own mother, like all the women have been. The story ends with self-satisfaction- “she seemed so pleased with herself” and that is the greatest freedom of all.
“Now, hate,” she started, “ain’t no use in hate, Josie. Ain’t no use in hate,” she repeated. “Whatever you trying to get away from, hate just binds you to it. You find, even when you think you found a way out, God will bring it back to you, slap you right in the face with it. Where you thought it had gone missing. So don’t ever say hate.”
“Now, hate,” she started, “ain’t no use in hate, Josie. Ain’t no use in hate,” she repeated. “Whatever you trying to get away from, hate just binds you to it. You find, even when you think you found a way out, God will bring it back to you, slap you right in the face with it. Where you thought it had gone missing. So don’t ever say hate.”
pattiillbee11's review against another edition
5.0
I felt like I was in the room with these women - so well written! The ending kind of disappointed me but I get it. I think the characters were so real, I wasn't ready to let them go.
eavers's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
marinampetrillo's review against another edition
3.0
This book could have used one last chapter to tie together all the stories told throughout, I think that would have led to a much stronger ending.
yesenianavaa's review against another edition
4.0
The revisioners
In this first chapter we are introduced to Ava her son and her grandmother from her father side. We get some backgrounds into her family history and we learned that her dad loved her mom and had a string of affairs and children. We learned that Ava’s father is white so she is biracial and light skin
She intentionally marries a man who is really dark skinned. She also talks about How it was difficult for her to be a light skinned woman. We learn in this chapter that Ava is struggling financially and is moving in with her grandmother to earn money and save money. We meet the grandmother and we can guess that she is well-meaning but she does say some things have double meanings in The way that why people say racist things without it coming off as outwardly racist. The son is the first one to raise suspicion about the home in the setting. I think this does a really good job at creating drama and suspense and mystery. It adds an eerie tone to the chapter and the book. Because I read what the book is about I know that the character Josephine that will narrate the second chapter is a slave in the past. She is distantly related to Ava. And in this chapter we learned that Ava has inherited a lamp that used to ones belong to Josephine. The grandmother who knocks over the lamp and breaks it. And I think this is used as a metaphorical tool. Since it’s only the first chapter I can’t read that much into it, but I understand that it will be used in such a way that it will emphasize power dynamics between the white grandmother and Ava who is a black woman. I think it will hint at And balances in power, racial hierarchy’s, history, and storytelling.
I have finished Josephines first chapter. I am confused about some of the characters and who is who but that should become more clear as I progress of the story. Mostly what we have in the first chapter is a layout of where Josephine comes from and who she is. We learned that she was a former slave and now she is a sharecropper in a mostly black community. We learned that she is much older used to deliver children and she had children of her own that she isn’t particularly close to. In this chapter Josephine is at a wedding for major, I think major is her son but I’m not really sure. Major is married to Eliza. I don’t know if Eliza is white, that’s not very clear yet. But we do know that Josephine is a strong formidable woman. She is used to being respected and treated with respect. We are also introduced to Charlotte. There aren’t a lot of interactions between the two of them. But it does provide us with some insight on how Josephine feels about white people. This is not long after slavery and Josephine emphasizes that the black people mostly sustain themselves by running their own businesses amongst each other and that they hardly interact with white people and that is very intentional. There are some mentions to the KKK and I know that will become more significant as the story progresses. In the last scenes of this book we see Josephine be tender towards Gerald Mac and I think these moments are going to be rare, not because I don’t think Josephine is a sweet person. But I think it’s because she’s been jaded by the harshness of her reality.
We learn more about Ava and her relationship with her mother. It seems strained but gives off the impression that things are better now than when she was a child. lots of ominous hints that are building suspense. weird that King has become best friends with 2 white girls. I don’t like it and I feel like it’s going to be an important story point as the plot progresses. The grandmother seems needy and emotionally manipulative.
We have another chapter of Josephine. Element that it took me a while to be interested in Josephine storyline just because I feel like there was more suspense built around Ava, but now I see more of Josephine and I’m really liking finding out who she is. I feel like right now her portion of the story is character driven. We’re learning how she’s lost faith in her magical healing powers. She is interacting more with Charlotte and you see that Josephine is still reserved and that she understands the intricate way in which black people have to interact with White people. We learn that major is her son, her biological son. We learned that she was very close to her daughter who are now older and married and have left with their husbands. We learned that Josephine is very hurt by this because she reminisces on how close are used to be when her daughter for children. All of this is being a nerd as Charlotte talks about her learning for a child. She has been trying to get pregnant for two years and has thus far been unsuccessful. So we see a lot of Motherhood being expressed in this chapter: motherhood denied and motherhood rejected. We also see Josephine be a mother to her son major. She talked about why she named him that, and some guys him to become a leader. We also see her being a good friend to link and we see a lot more tenderness of her.
So the story is still being narrated by Josephine and we learn a lot more about how she finds herself in terms of her motherhood. She is having dinner with major Eliza and what I think is her family and she feels almost exploded and look down on. There’s a Scene in the book where Major and Josephine are having this very intense argument in which he feels like his sense of authority was being challenged and she feels like he is not living up to the legacy that his father had built. I will see some tension between them in that Josephine feels like major is pulling away from her and too busy creating a life with Eliza to stand by her side. This story got heated!! so we know that Josephine has powers. we learn that she is growing fond of Charlotte and that Charlotte is in an abusive relationship and that she has tried and failed at having a baby. She keeps talking to Josephine about her mother and it makes her seem so young and child-like. We pivot to a scene where Josephine is having lunch with Link, Jerico, and someone else. Link warns Josephine about the dangers of befriending a white person and how it could easily backfire. We then flashback to Josephine’s childhood and it really escalates from there. Josephine is a child slave and she is friends with the owner’s daughter. She is fond of her and it is through her that Josephine learns that she has powers. She is able to grant the mistress a baby and even saves the baby when the mistress seems to bleeding out. Jupiter, Josephine and her mom are all distressed. Jupiter seems like a character motivated by revenge (rightfully so) and I”m curious to see what role he’ll play in the future. Josephine’s mom warns her about using her powers to help white people. She talks about how white people will abuse it and will take it away. This scene was exhilarating, well paced and very layered.
So much has passed in the middle end of the book. We’ve learned that Charlotte and her husband are part of the KKK. The scene with Major talking about how the weight of being Black is too much and he wishes he could pass it on to someone else or let it go, was very moving. He is the one that has to yield to Charlotte’s husband even though they didn’t do anything wrong. It’s unfair, but not doing so has violent reprucusions as we see in the killing of the pig and destroying of the crops. In terms of Ava’s story, I’m happy that nothing came of him and Harper. It was interested to see him pull away from his family at the party. Ava’s mother is having strong premonitions and keeps warning Ava about the dangers she is in by staying at the house. Dreams play a strong motif in this story. It’s also interesting to see how each of the story lines, even the one with King, is about a Black person managing their relationship with a white woman. We have Ava with her grandmother, older Josephine with Charlotte, younger Josephine with Sally, and King with Harper. I think it was a good choice of the author to focus on white women because we have to remember that a lot of the violence inflicted onto Black people has been under the guidance of white women or for their “protection”. I really dislike Ava’s grandmother and she is obviously very racist. I wanted Ava to punch her when she started ripping the money up. The story line with young Josephine is kind of confusing with the Revisioners. I don’t really know what the purpose of the group is or if everyone in the group has powers. I also still don’t know what Jupiter’s role in all of this is.
So I’ve finished the book now and wow. The scene where Josephine finds Major’s body is so devastating. I think the author did an amazing job at describing how utterly destroying and heartbreaking it is for a mother, and specifically a Black mother, to see her son killed at the hands of white supremacy. the scene was very emotional and intense. The book had pretty much bad endings for both of Josephine’s story lines. In the latter, her son dies. in the former, she is separated by her parents as they try to escape to freedom. I’m still confused about the role of Jupiter and what he added. Ava’s storyline ends with her helping one of the young women deliver her baby. there was good juxtaposition with the end of a life and the start of another one. Motherhood is woven throughout the entirety of the book and it’s interesting the approach she took to explore how mothers raise their children, what hopes and fears they instill them, and how children represent new beginnings. I thought the plot kind of lost momentum in the end and could have been wrapped up in more time. It felt kind of rushed. but overall, I really enjoyed this book. I was completely captivated and enthralled.
In this first chapter we are introduced to Ava her son and her grandmother from her father side. We get some backgrounds into her family history and we learned that her dad loved her mom and had a string of affairs and children. We learned that Ava’s father is white so she is biracial and light skin
She intentionally marries a man who is really dark skinned. She also talks about How it was difficult for her to be a light skinned woman. We learn in this chapter that Ava is struggling financially and is moving in with her grandmother to earn money and save money. We meet the grandmother and we can guess that she is well-meaning but she does say some things have double meanings in The way that why people say racist things without it coming off as outwardly racist. The son is the first one to raise suspicion about the home in the setting. I think this does a really good job at creating drama and suspense and mystery. It adds an eerie tone to the chapter and the book. Because I read what the book is about I know that the character Josephine that will narrate the second chapter is a slave in the past. She is distantly related to Ava. And in this chapter we learned that Ava has inherited a lamp that used to ones belong to Josephine. The grandmother who knocks over the lamp and breaks it. And I think this is used as a metaphorical tool. Since it’s only the first chapter I can’t read that much into it, but I understand that it will be used in such a way that it will emphasize power dynamics between the white grandmother and Ava who is a black woman. I think it will hint at And balances in power, racial hierarchy’s, history, and storytelling.
I have finished Josephines first chapter. I am confused about some of the characters and who is who but that should become more clear as I progress of the story. Mostly what we have in the first chapter is a layout of where Josephine comes from and who she is. We learned that she was a former slave and now she is a sharecropper in a mostly black community. We learned that she is much older used to deliver children and she had children of her own that she isn’t particularly close to. In this chapter Josephine is at a wedding for major, I think major is her son but I’m not really sure. Major is married to Eliza. I don’t know if Eliza is white, that’s not very clear yet. But we do know that Josephine is a strong formidable woman. She is used to being respected and treated with respect. We are also introduced to Charlotte. There aren’t a lot of interactions between the two of them. But it does provide us with some insight on how Josephine feels about white people. This is not long after slavery and Josephine emphasizes that the black people mostly sustain themselves by running their own businesses amongst each other and that they hardly interact with white people and that is very intentional. There are some mentions to the KKK and I know that will become more significant as the story progresses. In the last scenes of this book we see Josephine be tender towards Gerald Mac and I think these moments are going to be rare, not because I don’t think Josephine is a sweet person. But I think it’s because she’s been jaded by the harshness of her reality.
We learn more about Ava and her relationship with her mother. It seems strained but gives off the impression that things are better now than when she was a child. lots of ominous hints that are building suspense. weird that King has become best friends with 2 white girls. I don’t like it and I feel like it’s going to be an important story point as the plot progresses. The grandmother seems needy and emotionally manipulative.
We have another chapter of Josephine. Element that it took me a while to be interested in Josephine storyline just because I feel like there was more suspense built around Ava, but now I see more of Josephine and I’m really liking finding out who she is. I feel like right now her portion of the story is character driven. We’re learning how she’s lost faith in her magical healing powers. She is interacting more with Charlotte and you see that Josephine is still reserved and that she understands the intricate way in which black people have to interact with White people. We learn that major is her son, her biological son. We learned that she was very close to her daughter who are now older and married and have left with their husbands. We learned that Josephine is very hurt by this because she reminisces on how close are used to be when her daughter for children. All of this is being a nerd as Charlotte talks about her learning for a child. She has been trying to get pregnant for two years and has thus far been unsuccessful. So we see a lot of Motherhood being expressed in this chapter: motherhood denied and motherhood rejected. We also see Josephine be a mother to her son major. She talked about why she named him that, and some guys him to become a leader. We also see her being a good friend to link and we see a lot more tenderness of her.
So the story is still being narrated by Josephine and we learn a lot more about how she finds herself in terms of her motherhood. She is having dinner with major Eliza and what I think is her family and she feels almost exploded and look down on. There’s a Scene in the book where Major and Josephine are having this very intense argument in which he feels like his sense of authority was being challenged and she feels like he is not living up to the legacy that his father had built. I will see some tension between them in that Josephine feels like major is pulling away from her and too busy creating a life with Eliza to stand by her side. This story got heated!! so we know that Josephine has powers. we learn that she is growing fond of Charlotte and that Charlotte is in an abusive relationship and that she has tried and failed at having a baby. She keeps talking to Josephine about her mother and it makes her seem so young and child-like. We pivot to a scene where Josephine is having lunch with Link, Jerico, and someone else. Link warns Josephine about the dangers of befriending a white person and how it could easily backfire. We then flashback to Josephine’s childhood and it really escalates from there. Josephine is a child slave and she is friends with the owner’s daughter. She is fond of her and it is through her that Josephine learns that she has powers. She is able to grant the mistress a baby and even saves the baby when the mistress seems to bleeding out. Jupiter, Josephine and her mom are all distressed. Jupiter seems like a character motivated by revenge (rightfully so) and I”m curious to see what role he’ll play in the future. Josephine’s mom warns her about using her powers to help white people. She talks about how white people will abuse it and will take it away. This scene was exhilarating, well paced and very layered.
So much has passed in the middle end of the book. We’ve learned that Charlotte and her husband are part of the KKK. The scene with Major talking about how the weight of being Black is too much and he wishes he could pass it on to someone else or let it go, was very moving. He is the one that has to yield to Charlotte’s husband even though they didn’t do anything wrong. It’s unfair, but not doing so has violent reprucusions as we see in the killing of the pig and destroying of the crops. In terms of Ava’s story, I’m happy that nothing came of him and Harper. It was interested to see him pull away from his family at the party. Ava’s mother is having strong premonitions and keeps warning Ava about the dangers she is in by staying at the house. Dreams play a strong motif in this story. It’s also interesting to see how each of the story lines, even the one with King, is about a Black person managing their relationship with a white woman. We have Ava with her grandmother, older Josephine with Charlotte, younger Josephine with Sally, and King with Harper. I think it was a good choice of the author to focus on white women because we have to remember that a lot of the violence inflicted onto Black people has been under the guidance of white women or for their “protection”. I really dislike Ava’s grandmother and she is obviously very racist. I wanted Ava to punch her when she started ripping the money up. The story line with young Josephine is kind of confusing with the Revisioners. I don’t really know what the purpose of the group is or if everyone in the group has powers. I also still don’t know what Jupiter’s role in all of this is.
So I’ve finished the book now and wow. The scene where Josephine finds Major’s body is so devastating. I think the author did an amazing job at describing how utterly destroying and heartbreaking it is for a mother, and specifically a Black mother, to see her son killed at the hands of white supremacy. the scene was very emotional and intense. The book had pretty much bad endings for both of Josephine’s story lines. In the latter, her son dies. in the former, she is separated by her parents as they try to escape to freedom. I’m still confused about the role of Jupiter and what he added. Ava’s storyline ends with her helping one of the young women deliver her baby. there was good juxtaposition with the end of a life and the start of another one. Motherhood is woven throughout the entirety of the book and it’s interesting the approach she took to explore how mothers raise their children, what hopes and fears they instill them, and how children represent new beginnings. I thought the plot kind of lost momentum in the end and could have been wrapped up in more time. It felt kind of rushed. but overall, I really enjoyed this book. I was completely captivated and enthralled.
salimah's review against another edition
5.0
An astoundingly, elegantly clear narrative that spans generations--enslavement and freedom--and illustrates the deep wounds of this country's past as told through the stories of three women from the same lineage. I am so glad I decided to give this one a try.