Reviews

The Love Songs of W. E. B. du Bois is beautifully written; it is very clear that the author, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a well-researched poet who expertly wields words like a weaver at a loom. The story is expansive and gorgeously constructed. It is also incredibly brutal (rightfully so, given the brutality of the topics discussed by Jeffers, and portrayed remarkably without romanticization of the extreme trauma experienced by the people of the book) and, as such, may be incredibly unpleasant to some readers.

I will likely never read this book all the way through again without taking breaks because I was deeply affected by the Jeffers’s nuanced portrayal of trauma. I hesitate to use the word triggered because it is so often weaponized by critics of books like these that deftly detail and describe the legacy of slavery in America and that discuss the intersectionality of abuse (domestic and sexual most prominently throughout this book) as well as racism and sexism. I experienced significant distress at certain parts of this book and I would recommend that all readers take the time to look through the trigger warnings and protect their mental health while reading, because I do highly recommend this book.

I cannot really put a numerical rating on this book - its value as literature and as a historical and cultural text cannot possibly be encompassed by assigning a number of stars - so I will instead say this: Read it.

Content Warnings

shannon222's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

rosered879's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

rnshack's review

Go to review page

3.0

3 stars

I’ve had to think on this review for a few days since finishing the book. There are so many important things within these pages but it got lost in the many, many, pages and the winey behavior of Ailey. This book was way too long. And I did not like Ailey or Bella in the least and they took away from this book.

Ailey was winey and one dimensional and Bella was self involved snd self serving. I am also having a very hard time comprehending how all 3 sisters were abused and no adult caught it. None. Not an adult in the whole bunch who looked up and protected those girls. So heartbreaking.

I do not like stories that treat cheating as something common and for the most part acceptable. There was a lot of cheating in this novel and all it did for me was make me dislike the characters even more.

I loved Uncle Root and could have read an entire novel about his life. Him and Aggie were the very best parts of this book.

The Song portions of the book were gut wrenching and hard to read but at the same time reading about the lives of Ailey’s ancestors was beautiful and inspiring and I’m so glad I did and that their stories are out here in the world for people to read about. I am still thinking about those characters, their lives, and what they went though days later. Portions of this book were so so wonderful but unfortunately those were the smallest parts. A book with just the Song portions and Uncle Root is a 5 star book for me. This one I have to leave at 3 stars.

hilaryannbrown's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This is a brilliant novel that I did not enjoy reading, so I'm struggling to rate it. The author has written a story of one family that spans 400 years of time - in doing so, she lays bare the generational trauma of rape and white supremacy. The many scenes of child abuse are well researched and based on slave narratives. (Tread lightly.) Connecting the lives of real families to the sociology of Du Bois, as well as challenging his work from a feminist lens, is an ambitious job for a work of fiction. I think it could have been done with more focus and narrative restraint. This is an important book for our time, but for me it lacks the intimacy and soul of books like Beloved and Their Eyes Were Watching God.

erintowner's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Although this book is long it swept me along. I loved the sense of culture throughout this book--it reminded me of Zora Neale Hurston's writing. The women in this book were so strong and there were so many crappy men around them, of all races. The women had to put up with way more than they ever should have had to, from racist white grad school fellows to cheating husbands. This book deals with some incredibly heavy topics but they are worth wrestling with if you have the bandwidth. It was interesting to learn more about how the Creek and Cherokee interacted with enslaved people and the first white settlers. I also liked the use of the ancestors' voices in this book; it was better done than other books on similar topics. At the very end the book dragged a little but still enjoyable and worth the read even though it's 800 pages.

kcharles1924's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a beautiful novel. Great coming of age story and also an excellent read about black feminism. There were so many moving parts in this book that I might reread it in the future. I do wish the some characters in Ailey’s family were highlighted a bit more.

More...