Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

155 reviews

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This was a beautiful book but it was so hard to read. It's important to bear witness to these stories and  there were so many beautiful elements of what a mother will do for her children. Not an easy book and as with all books that center the narratives of slaves, please check TW if you have content you are sensitive to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Slavery

e_tully4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

Slavery was a horror film and this book proves it. A well written (and researched) book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

cassmills's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

sleeson's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I have nowhere to start. The novel's pages are soaked in heartbreak, determination, love, and heroism. I could go on and on about this novel. 
Sadeqa Johnson's characterization for the role of each person is gracefully and carefully thought out. Her story will have you latching on to each moment Pheby's journey.
Our hero Pheby is unquestionably the strongest figure in the novel. The sacrifices she makes for everyone she meets, is due to her unconditional love for others. Strong language and Graphic sexual content alluded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Excrement, Grief, Sexual assault, Vomit, Child death, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Classism, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Rape

butle2em's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is a graphic depiction for what life was like for enslaved people. It took me a long time to read through it because I needed time to process the torture depicted between the pages. While this book is uncomfortable and horrifying, I think it is important that white people read responsibly written slave narratives (eg researched, historically factual, written by Black authors) in order to consider the world we inherited and our responsibility in changing that world for the better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Gore, Violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Vomit

readwithsabs's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Racial slurs, Violence, Hate crime, Torture, Racism, and Slavery

janehackney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Torture, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Slavery

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Trafficking, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Confinement, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, Excrement, Infidelity, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

 Yellow Wife is the story of Pheby, an enslaved women who was promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday by her father, the plantation owner. Instead she is sold off by his wife and ends up at the notorious Devil’s Half-Acre, part jail, part slave-market. The owner takes her as his mistress and she bears him five children and assists him with some of his business’s operations.

The book did a really good job of highlighting the difficult position Pheby was in, the fine line she had to walk. The jailer treated her better than many enslaved people both in his compound and generally. Yet, she was far from free and if she displeased him or refused to do as he wished he had no compunction threatening her to enforce obedience, frequently using her children as bargaining chips.

Things come to a head when her first love, the father of her oldest son, is captured in the North and sent to the Devil’s Half-Acre. There is real tension in the last few pages as we see Pheby’s plans for their freedom being put into action. The ending is both heart-rending, heart-warming and realistic.

The Author’s Note at the end outlines the inspiration for the story and helps tease out the facts from the fiction. The setting and many of the characters are based on or inspired by real places and real people. A satisfying read overall, although the broad strokes of the plot, characters and themes will be familiar to anyone who has read American historical fiction from this era.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

unemployedbookreader's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Physical abuse