Reviews

Picked this up on recommendation of BookTuber, Ashley @ The Bookish Realm

This was compulsively readable, featuring a Black character in the Jim Crow South. The women in her family inherit magic with the onset of adolescence, which just complicates an already complicated time in a young person's life.

Evalene is a beautifully rendered, real character, unsure of what she wants for her life, but interested in exploring her options. When her most appealing option is violently taken from her, she harnesses a power she was unaware of, developing through the generations of Black women.

miss_alaina's review against another edition

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5.0

This book has been on my TBR list since the day it came out, and I'm so glad I finally picked it up. I didn't really have a clear idea of what this book was about going into it, so pretty much everything about it was unexpected. One of the things I absolutely did not expect was the creepiness factor, especially early on when Evvie doesn't understand what is going on with the stranger she keeps seeing. As a 100% wuss with a high level of stranger danger, that freaked me out a bit.

I loved Evvie as a main character, and I adored her grandmother, too. They both cracked me up with their sassiness. I also loved Evvie's relationship with Ann Marie and how supportive she was of her.

The magic in this book was really unique and interesting. The whole concept of jubilation and it's evolution was both fascinating and heartbreaking. I would've loved to have learned even more about it.

Spoiler

I will admit that I'm still not completely clear on Virgil and whether or not he was a regular human or had some magical powers. For the whole first part of the book, he seemed magical or demonic, but by the end he seemed like a regular dude. Maybe it was Evvie's perception of him that made him appear so sinister? I don't know.

I also wish we could learn more about Evvie's family in the future. We know Evvie and her future daughter Violet are going to have a falling out, but the story ends with Evvie pregnant with Violet and thinking about how she is a piece of Clay that will live on. I'm so curious to know more about how that relationship fell apart. I'm just going to assume history repeated itself and in the future Evvie is like Grandma Attie, Violet is like Indigo and wants to separate herself from jubilation and her mother, and Evvie's granddaughter is just like her. Maybe. But still -I'd love to read another book that took place in the future so we could learn all about their relationships.

jenee72391's review against another edition

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5.0

I wasn’t ready for this book. Be warned you will laugh and cry while reading this. But it’s so worth it. High praise to this author for such a compelling read.

nikkiei's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

Content Warnings

reading_beyond_the_book_cover's review against another edition

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5.0

Beautiful coming of age story. I can’t wait to re-read it in the audiobook format.

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