Reviews

Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce

brianne_k's review

3.0

*3/5*

I loved Honoree's story. All the times of the book we spent back in 1925 were enthralling. Especially loved the glitz of a certain party with a young Louis Armstrong (one of my all time greatest musical loves).

I just wish we didn't have Sawyer's scenes.. his backstory. It always was jarring to be pulled out of Honoree's story which was so captivating. Even the reveal didn't pack the emotional punch I think it was intending to because I didn't care about Sawyer or his problems. I didn't care about his motivations or his ending.

I could have read an entire book of Honoree, Bessie, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah.

kay_rose's review

I just didn’t want to read it. I just need to stick to my tbr.

daydreamingreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

tiffisbooked's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

sydney_arcuri's review

5.0

it feels so nice reading a 5 star read after so many 3 star reads
more to come

lindseyzank's review against another edition

2.0

So boring, from start to end. The story was more about mob bosses and murders rather than about Honoree's experiences living in 1920s Chicago. The intersection between the earlier timeline with the later timeline, and the mystery surrounding Honoree's identity and past, had so much potential but weren't executed well. In the end, I didn't care about any of the characters and just wanted the book to be done.

maryrosem's review

adventurous emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, and Sexual assault

booksnooksandcooks's review

3.0

This story is told in the past and present format between two different characters and to be frank, I couldn’t care less about Sawyer. He was just a flat character with little dimension and I sped through his sections to get back to Honoree.

The book was well-researched but there was so much packed into a little space. Constant plot twists cheapens the reaction to the point where I was easily predicting what came next. It was one of those stories where you go, “seriously, how much trauma can one person endure before they just got absolutely insane?”. I would have much more preferred to just focus on Honoree and not Ezekiel or Bessie or Jeremiah. It was no longer her story, but rather she played a background character in everyone else’s choices.

wildflowerfieldsforever's review against another edition

3.0

I had higher expectations and hopes for this book.  It hit about average for me; yet, I did enjoy the story as it unfolded.  Alongside the actual story of the book, it was a look into the world of 1920s Chicago for a black woman and her friends.  I appreciated that.  It was a difficult time to live in, for a lot of reasons.  The story kept me interested and invested in how everyone would end up.

warrik's review

4.0

This was a nice view into Chicago in the rising twenties. Seeing that era from the prospective of the Black community was very interesting. I didn't find the current day framing sorry as compelling as the historical view but it had it's moments and I had only half guessed the twist.