Reviews

Augustown by Kei Miller

ceedoubleu's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative 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

4.25

sunflower_bbgrl's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I want to start by saying that this book had one of my favourite ever openings, capturing such a gorgeous depiction of a small fictional town in Jamaica.

Augustown took me a little while to read as partway through I could feel myself becoming disenchanted by the plot. By the time I got half way through, I became fully immersed and engaged again. So much so it made me doubt my earlier feelings. Kei Miller tells a history of Jamaican politics over the course of one day. Spanning tales around myth, religion, class divides, and the subjugation of Rastafari. It’s a creative literary venture that showcases how one day encompasses all of history.

Pros:
• creative storytelling that plays with concept of time and memory
• centres rastafari in Jamaica
• portrays the underbelly of Jamaican society

Cons:
• not the best writing of Black woman characters 
• a bit boring in some parts with long drawn out scenes 

imani406's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 ⭐️’s.

oibruv's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

cmcuffman's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.5

inesalmeida's review against another edition

4.0

4,5

scholiast's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

joreasonable's review against another edition

3.0

Ma Taffy, who is one of the main characters is an old blind woman looking after her young great nephew, Kaia, relates a series of historical stories while they wait for Gina, the boy’s mother to come home from work. The book jumped from one story to another seemingly without connection. While I was reading the book I didn’t understand the connection with the flying preacher man and rastafarians until later after finishing and it was while I was writing this review that I understood the connection.

I loved the beginning of this book, such interesting characters, especially Ma Taffy, in an interesting but anarchic fictional town but loosely based on the real August Town, an area of Kingston, Jamaica. I enjoyed the writing itself, it is very good, the author describes well the area, the island, etc.

My favourite character was Gina, even though she wasn’t the main character, or even had a large part, she struck me as strong, willing to learn and better herself and her parts in the book were my favourite. I didn’t enjoy the storytelling so much, or should I say, I enjoyed the story telling from Ma Taffy, I just didn’t understand the link between the storyline and the stories. I wanted to know more about Kaia but he wasn’t a big enough part for my liking.

I enjoyed the setting and the descriptions of the town and area.

I normally don’t say much about the endings of books in my reviews, but I found this one to be very sad.

3 stars for this one, recommended for those wishing to read a mystical book set in Jamaica.
video review in Spanish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyvOo36U1Yo&list=PLniFXSpJj5RWIDC0udo2vtJsUn0Vd2HrS&index=15

mscalls's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.5

dheereads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0