bookdrunkard78's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Loved it! Forever interested in the parts of history that get erased and the voices that are silenced. It's important to me to seek out those stories/histories and be a witness to the forgotten. 

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elizabeth_1898's review

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reflective medium-paced

3.0


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avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely essential reading 

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achay91's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.0


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readandfindout's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4.5 stars
Art: 3 stars

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masterofmusix's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

This book tells an incredible story. It provides a visual depiction of what the slave trade actually looked like. It describes the story of the authors journey to find the truth about her ancestors past. It is as dark and haunting as it is illuminating. Rebecca Hall is a hero for writing this book.

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tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced
A beautifully told and vital story that deserves all the attention Hall gives it and more.

I was not a fan of the art style; while Martinez's stark black-and-white images really capture the emotions of Hall's story, I do not like the way he draws people. Which, in a story about people first and foremost, was a big drawback for me.

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balfies's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad fast-paced

4.5

A graphic novel, memoir, history, and historiography of a historian's investigation into slave riots that were led by women. 

The history itself is scarce, pieced together by scraps - but it suggests that slave riots occurred on 1 in 10 ships during the transatlantic slave trade, and the #1 thing that increased the likelihood of revolt was the presence of women on board. Hall pieces together and reconstructs a likely version of events for these women, giving them the agency and personhood denied them by history. 

It is, at the same time, an account of Hall's own research, and the modern day racist walls that stood in her way - white supremacist bureaucracy, forbidden archives, police escorts through the stacks where these sources are buried.

Evocative illustrations by Hugo Martínez filled with resonant imagery and metaphor bring these dual stories to life. This was a quick but very compelling read.

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franklola's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0


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robinks's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

I didn’t like the illustrations, and the layout of some of the pages made the words difficult to follow. But overall, it was both heartbreaking and frustrating to read about lost history and how it repeats itself today in racist patriarchy.

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