Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - When We Were Birds

Spell binding debut novel set in Trinidad & Tobago where we encounter two people who interact with death in ways you don’t see everyday. Darwin has grown up under the rules of his Rastafarian mother, however, since she has gotten older, it’s fallen to him to help keep the two of them from going under. He is essentially forced to take a job as a gravedigger, something he know his mother would disapprove of but it pays the bills. Yejide is doing her best to come to terms with her mother’s recent death and also the fact that it’s now her responsibility to shepherd the city’s souls into the afterlife. Yet, similar to how Darwin sheds his locs to prepare for his new job, Yejide is looking for a way to remove herself from the St. Bernard responsibility. The pair eventually meet at the cemetery and sparks slowly burst. This is more than just a casual love story. This also involves intrigue, murder suspicions and being a part of Caribbean life that we don’t get to experience in the book world.

Content Warnings

deedireads's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

bookwrm526's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

clarabooksit's review

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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

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bookdragon217's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

2treads's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

'...Fair don’t always mean good. Exchange don’t always mean peace. Power don’t always mean free.’ –Petronella

When We Were Birds is a story of transformation, legacy, and family inheritance that not only uses the lush flora and fauna of Trinidad but also our shared history that is rooted in story, belief, and culture.

The relationships here are complicated and as we get to know each character, their experiences heighten our connection and reaction.

Beneath a facade of simple existence, Lloyd Banwo layers a complex and intricate story of death and how it weaves through a community, how it appears and is experienced by individuals.

It is proof of her prowess that we are pulled so effortlessly into the tale of Yejide and Darwin, that we so instantly form a connection to them and their unique individual expression and situation. Trailing them both is the duty that binds them to family, the yearning to find their own way no matter the difficulty, no matter the danger.

Simply woven with terrific effect.

It is not hard to become immersed in a story of death and the closeness of spirits to our physical existence when you've grown up with a mother who has had encounters with the passing souls of her brother, sister, and nephew. Our mother has always held the belief that loved ones can reach out from the beyond with messages for the ones they are leaving and so do we.

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