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catalyst226's review
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This author has a such a deft touch for atmosphere with her writing. The book was fairly slow-paced and really set up for the intensity at the end of the plot. I really loved the discussions of grief, family, love, and duty. It is set in Trinidad & Tobago, and written with the accent. I highly recommend the audiobook for the talented narration by both voices.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Child death
kyra_joy's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Took me a bit to getting into the rhythm of the writing but once I did, I fell in love with the characters and the world. Beautiful story, and I love stories that talk about folklore or cultural tales from other places so this was a perfect read. It’s a perfect mix of the supernatural/spiritual and the real world.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Violence and Slavery
auudrey's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Abandonment
neevechristine's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really struggled to read this before bed! lovely sentiment, took a while to get settled in. Not my usual genre so I found quite eerie and disturbing for me as I’m sensitive
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Grief, Classism, Death of parent, Slavery, and Bullying
jayisreading's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
Knowing very little about Trinidad and Tobago, When We Were Birds was a delight to read to learn more about Trinidadian culture. There’s beautiful prose and a wonderful rhythm in Banwo’s storytelling that pulls you into the novel, the use of Trinidadian English further immersing you. Centering the living’s relationship with death through Yejide and Darwin, we also discover the prevalence of complex love in death, especially in one’s relationships.
I have to admit, as beautifully written as this book was, the pacing was kind of all over the place for me, with the beginning being a little too slow and the ending a bit fast. In addition, I would have loved Yejide’s character to be fleshed out more; it felt as though Banwo spent far more time with Darwin that we have a better sense of who he is. (I must also confess, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I was in a better headspace, but I had to return the book soon…)
This was a wonderful debut novel, though, and I really look forward to what more Banwo has in store for her readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Murder
nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
badmom's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, and Abandonment
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
When We Were Birds is lushly written and vividly brings its setting, a fictional town in Trinidad and Tobago to life. The plot centres around Darwin, who is forced to take a job as a gravedigger in a cemetery that harbours some dark secrets, and Yejide, next in a line of women responsible for shepherding dead souls into the afterlife. While a romance eventually develops this is not a romance novel per se. The plot very much centres on their individual storylines and themes like complicated mother-child relationships, inheritance and legacy and the divide between life and death. Rhythmically and stylistically this book felt strongly situated in a tradition of oral storytelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Murder and Violence
deedireads's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
fast-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
4.25
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
When We Were Birds — a modern, imaginative, and more literary take on the classic love story — is a quick, captivating standalone. I really liked it.
For you if: You like literary magical realism and /or want to read more books set in the Caribbean.
FULL REVIEW:
Thank you, Doubleday, for the gifted copy of this book! With some SERIOUS blurb power (Marlon James, Robert Jones Jr., Pat Barker, Avni Doshi, and others) When We Were Birds is exactly the kind of novel I tend to love — literary, but touched with magic. So it’s no surprise that I enjoyed this book very, very much.
Set in Trinidad and Tobago, the story is about two characters: Yejide, a young woman who is last in a line of women who help pass souls into the afterlife (literally — magically), and Darwin, a young Rastafarian man left with no options but to take a job at a graveyard, despite the fact that it goes against his religion. So begins their intertwined fates.
It took me a few days to relax into this one, but I think that was a me/brain space thing and not a book thing. Once I did, I was off — in fact, by the end, I was surprised by how fast the pace had felt. I read most of it in a single Amtrak ride, and it was perfectly suited for that kind of thing. It’s got that quick, immersive love-story feeling alongside that deeper literary feeling. All while completely transporting us into this fictional city and into these characters’ lives and hearts.
Finally, this is a book where I very much recommend listening to the audiobook as you read along — the voice performances by Sydney Darius and Wendell Manwarren really brought the characters, the story, and the setting to life.
A beautiful debut. I can’t wait to see what Ayanna Lloyd Banwo writes next.
TL;DR REVIEW:
When We Were Birds — a modern, imaginative, and more literary take on the classic love story — is a quick, captivating standalone. I really liked it.
For you if: You like literary magical realism and /or want to read more books set in the Caribbean.
FULL REVIEW:
Thank you, Doubleday, for the gifted copy of this book! With some SERIOUS blurb power (Marlon James, Robert Jones Jr., Pat Barker, Avni Doshi, and others) When We Were Birds is exactly the kind of novel I tend to love — literary, but touched with magic. So it’s no surprise that I enjoyed this book very, very much.
Set in Trinidad and Tobago, the story is about two characters: Yejide, a young woman who is last in a line of women who help pass souls into the afterlife (literally — magically), and Darwin, a young Rastafarian man left with no options but to take a job at a graveyard, despite the fact that it goes against his religion. So begins their intertwined fates.
It took me a few days to relax into this one, but I think that was a me/brain space thing and not a book thing. Once I did, I was off — in fact, by the end, I was surprised by how fast the pace had felt. I read most of it in a single Amtrak ride, and it was perfectly suited for that kind of thing. It’s got that quick, immersive love-story feeling alongside that deeper literary feeling. All while completely transporting us into this fictional city and into these characters’ lives and hearts.
Finally, this is a book where I very much recommend listening to the audiobook as you read along — the voice performances by Sydney Darius and Wendell Manwarren really brought the characters, the story, and the setting to life.
A beautiful debut. I can’t wait to see what Ayanna Lloyd Banwo writes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and Grief
clarabooksit's review
emotional
slow-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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Slavery, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
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