Reviews

One Blood by Denene Millner

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thissagreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

0.75

I wanted to like this book. But I despised this book due to the COPIUS amounts of black familial trauma. I thought this novel would be about HEALING generational traumas. But instead, the reader is just smacked around with black women’s trauma over and over and OVER. I mean the author didn’t give the characters vengeance/revenge on these AWFUL men, or the awful adults!

TRIGGER WARNING: there are VERY graphic rape scenes, racism and violence. And these women didn’t get their revenge!

I assumed this story would have more of a story and journey about adoption, and HEALING I cannot stress this enough! So disappointed honestly, because I really wanted to like this book. There’s also this discussion throughout the book on black root work vs. white Christianity. It would’ve been really nice to five deeper into root work, but the characters were just shamed and told that it was the devils work. TRASH. This book was VERY heavy and was much longer than it needed to be. There’s no big joy by the end,

Rae literally just finally realizes that she needs to leave and divorce her bum ass husband, but her mother-Delores- who was also cheated on, doesn’t really heal from her hurt, just moves forward and creates a new life after her husband dies. And Grace- Rae’s birth mother- was slapped with so much trauma and her story was never revisited.

and I am left feeling tense and frustrated with the lack of closure and the lack of revenge.

Content Warnings