Reviews

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

tishywishy's review

3.0

It's not often that you come across a book that gives you the voice of almost every character. It's an interesting take that I wasn't expecting. Red at the Bone touches on so many topics - sexual exploration, lgbtq realities, gentrification, teenage pregnancy, heartbreak, racism - I could go on. It read like a slice of life book and perhaps this is why I felt it kept going on with no real sense of purpose.

khornstein1's review

4.0

Read this one on the recommendation of a friend and fellow Obie (did not know Oberlin would figure in the book--yay!) There is so much poetry in this book, and just generally so much everything (and it's all good). I got caught up in all the characters' storylines despite the book's brevity. Loved all the Brooklyn in the book too.

galoshes's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

5.0

This beautiful book is so short yet effortlessly delivers the life stories of five family members and three generations in their own words. We time travel from chapter to chapter, and there's never any mention of an exact year but we know what era it is because of the world events, the scene around the character, the type of car people drive, the way people speak. I love how each character is conveyed: in so few words I feel like I know them, and I never had trouble telling them apart. I love the last scene and the callback to a detail that was only mentioned once in the beginning, that took me a minute to remember and when I did I felt like applauding.

I happened to read this soon after Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - the unexpected parallel is throwing me. Sometimes life hands you books in the right order.

graciecat_mom's review

5.0

Beautifully written, especially the chapter on "rise".

lookatthemoon's review

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

cheuksin's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

bookishbrieee's review against another edition

reflective

5.0

isobelflindall's review against another edition

4.0

i liked this quite a bit - the characters and relationships all captivated me, but that meant that the frequent perspective shifts weren't my fav. i didn't always feel like i was ready to move on from a perspective when the story did. having the different voice actors in the audio book was cool though, i think it helped me follow better!

bocker_enligt_angelica's review

emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

yarn_chicken's review

4.0

What a powerful, beautifully written book. I highly recommend the audiobook narration, which was wonderful.