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serwalom's review against another edition
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
4.75
rosyapple's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
a roundabout kind of plot. never feels preachy. evocative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Blood, and Slavery
Moderate: Infidelity and Child death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
thelibraryofimagination's review against another edition
5.0
This is the type of book that I could only describe as a gift.
Thank you to the author and The Pigeonhole for the ebook in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure to read.
The writing in this book is exquisite!
Beautiful imagery, heartfelt emotions and believable characters.
The story is profound, romantic, tragic, optimistic and realistic.
The book is everything I love in a story. It enraptured me from the first paragraph. I looked forward to reading it, I was desperate to finish it, to follow the story and the character’s journey to fall in to the happy ending I so desperately wished for.
What I also admired about this book is the way it portrayed a humanity that is often difficult to discuss. The harsh reality of the world was woven in every action and reaction. But along side the harshness came the love, understanding and forgiveness that is paramount to moving forward, to moving on, to moving away from a past that should never have been.and ultimately moving forward to a future that can be and is becoming.
Thanks you for this beautiful story.
Thank you to the author and The Pigeonhole for the ebook in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure to read.
The writing in this book is exquisite!
Beautiful imagery, heartfelt emotions and believable characters.
The story is profound, romantic, tragic, optimistic and realistic.
The book is everything I love in a story. It enraptured me from the first paragraph. I looked forward to reading it, I was desperate to finish it, to follow the story and the character’s journey to fall in to the happy ending I so desperately wished for.
What I also admired about this book is the way it portrayed a humanity that is often difficult to discuss. The harsh reality of the world was woven in every action and reaction. But along side the harshness came the love, understanding and forgiveness that is paramount to moving forward, to moving on, to moving away from a past that should never have been.and ultimately moving forward to a future that can be and is becoming.
Thanks you for this beautiful story.
embem_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.5
elleneam's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed the premise of this novel, and the circular style it used to look at the stories connected by racism, diaspora, and empire. However, I found the first half to be extremely bleak and the second half to be extremely cheesy. Why does the ending of every book have to be girl falls in love with boy and lives happily ever after? As well as being nauseatingly heteronormative it was also an overly simplistic answer from what I had hoped would be a more complex book. If you like family-drama or romance novels this would be an enjoyable book, otherwise I’d recommend giving it a skip.
stellabyproxy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Racism, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Police brutality, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders
rach_reads_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.0
caitlinvmcc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
3.0
elenayasmin's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
3.5
This was an impressive debut from Amaka. The demise of the book is unique and well-thought-out, conveying the intergenerational trauma of Black people by writing in the first person perspective of a spirit of an enslaved woman from the early 19th century. Amaka draws parallels from the journey of this woman to the journeys of two Black youths starting from 1981. By exploring two different journeys, one of a Black Caribbean British boy and his struggle against the British law enforcement, poverty, gentrification and the psychiatric epidemic, another a Nigerian girl experiencing firsthand the violent after-effects of British colonisation and navigation misogynoir through her teenhood, Amaka comprehensively describes the struggle of Black people in the diaspora and the in their homeland.
Unfortunately, I struggled to get behind her writing style. I found at times her descriptions to be clusmy and simplistic at times. I felt that the writer explained her ideas too much in the book where things were obvious, and it would have been more captivating if she left things to be read in between the lines. One example I can think of is her explanation of why Michael earlier on in the book only slept with white blonde women. This could have been implied through direct contrast with his experiences of racism by white women, instead of painfully drawn out with an abrupt, seeming out of place analysis. It at times felt like Amaka did not have faith in her readers' ability to understand her characters.
Furthermore, I feel like the blurb is misleading, as it suggest that this is a romance novel. Michael and Ngozi only meet in the last three chapters, so the majority of the book is not in romance. Nevertheless, it was a good story, and I am looking forward to seeing Amaka develop as a writer.
Unfortunately, I struggled to get behind her writing style. I found at times her descriptions to be clusmy and simplistic at times. I felt that the writer explained her ideas too much in the book where things were obvious, and it would have been more captivating if she left things to be read in between the lines. One example I can think of is her explanation of why Michael earlier on in the book only slept with white blonde women. This could have been implied through direct contrast with his experiences of racism by white women, instead of painfully drawn out with an abrupt, seeming out of place analysis. It at times felt like Amaka did not have faith in her readers' ability to understand her characters.
Furthermore, I feel like the blurb is misleading, as it suggest that this is a romance novel. Michael and Ngozi only meet in the last three chapters, so the majority of the book is not in romance. Nevertheless, it was a good story, and I am looking forward to seeing Amaka develop as a writer.