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gabbylikestoread's review
5.0
Dew Angels is about a young girl named Nola Chambers who grew up in a fictional small town in Jamaica. Nola’s father ridicules and abuses her because of her darker complexion, something the people of Redding also despise. Nola overcomes the pain and prejudice of her community with the love and care she finds in the most unlikely of places. This coming-of-age story explores found family, familial ties, love, friendship and perseverance in Melanie Schwapp’s debut.
Reading this will have you rooting for Nola when she stands up for herself, chiding her when she takes risks and reaching around to hug her when she starts seeing herself through the eyes of those that love her.
What I loved the most about this story is Nola’s character arc. She started as a quiet, sullen young woman who thought she deserved everything that happened to her. Little by little, she began to see her worth and it was thanks to the people that she encountered throughout her life that brought nourishment to her thirsty soul. Her evolution didn’t happen in a vacuum but through acts of welfare at every turn.
I’m so thankful for Bookstagram and for Renee for mentioning this book. I never would’ve found it otherwise.
Reading this will have you rooting for Nola when she stands up for herself, chiding her when she takes risks and reaching around to hug her when she starts seeing herself through the eyes of those that love her.
What I loved the most about this story is Nola’s character arc. She started as a quiet, sullen young woman who thought she deserved everything that happened to her. Little by little, she began to see her worth and it was thanks to the people that she encountered throughout her life that brought nourishment to her thirsty soul. Her evolution didn’t happen in a vacuum but through acts of welfare at every turn.
I’m so thankful for Bookstagram and for Renee for mentioning this book. I never would’ve found it otherwise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Sexual assault
cheryl59's review
4.0
Not an easy book to read, both the story line and the style, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
bookofcinz's review
5.0
Updated January 31, 2019
Dew Angels is Melanie Schwapp’s debut novel. Dew Angels follows the life of Nola Chambers, Jamaican girl born into a family and community who thinks having dark skin is an offense and proceeds to treat Nola as such. The community of Redding in Jamaica prides itself on its “light-skinned” people, so much so, Nola stuck out like a sore thumb and she was made to not forget it by those around us. A coming of age novel, we meet Nola at age thirteen trying to navigate a world where her sister gets preferred treatment, where her father treats her less than and her mother is mute and turns a blind eye to all these things happening to her.
Nola’s world begins to open up when her school principal places her into a study group with Dahlia and Delroy. Their bond begins to grow stronger than they expected with each day they spend together doing school work. While Dahlia’s Mother Merlene is viewed by the community of a woman of ill-repute, Nola cannot help but admire how close Dahlia is to her mother. Dahlia’s household is the one that Nola longs for they embody the relationship Nola wants to have with her Mom. Things take a turn for the worse when Nola is seeing leaving Merlene’s establishment.
Melanie Schwapp wrote a character that is haunting, resilient, a fighter, and the overall embodiment of a true Jamaican woman- Nola is definitely one character I will always remember.
The book takes us on an unforgettable journey, for at least then years of Nola’s life. We see her face challenges, defeat, loss of love but we also see her grow and fight back in the most beautiful way. I went through a range of emotions reading this book from anger, to disbelief to joy. I cannot stress how much I love this book- I highly recommend this book.
2017
This book is near and dear to my heart, because my friend's Mom wrote this book and I received a signed copy. With that said, I was a little nervous to read the book because I felt like I had to like it, added to that my friend told me how great the book was. In the end I have to admit- I absolutely ADORED Dew Angels
Dew Angels is a story centered around Nola- a Jamaican girl born into a family who thinks having dark skin is an offense and proceeds to treat Nola as such. I would classify this as a coming of age novel as we see how Nola progresses from being a victim to overcoming in every area of her life.
Melanie Schwapp wrote a character that is haunting, resilient, a fighter, and the overall embodiment of a true Jamaican woman- Nola is definitely one character I will always remember.
I am always a fan of book that perfectly captures life in Jamaica, especially ones that contains colorful and believable characters. I laughed out loud, cried, and smiled having read this novel. What a brilliant read.
Must read in my book!
Dew Angels is Melanie Schwapp’s debut novel. Dew Angels follows the life of Nola Chambers, Jamaican girl born into a family and community who thinks having dark skin is an offense and proceeds to treat Nola as such. The community of Redding in Jamaica prides itself on its “light-skinned” people, so much so, Nola stuck out like a sore thumb and she was made to not forget it by those around us. A coming of age novel, we meet Nola at age thirteen trying to navigate a world where her sister gets preferred treatment, where her father treats her less than and her mother is mute and turns a blind eye to all these things happening to her.
Nola’s world begins to open up when her school principal places her into a study group with Dahlia and Delroy. Their bond begins to grow stronger than they expected with each day they spend together doing school work. While Dahlia’s Mother Merlene is viewed by the community of a woman of ill-repute, Nola cannot help but admire how close Dahlia is to her mother. Dahlia’s household is the one that Nola longs for they embody the relationship Nola wants to have with her Mom. Things take a turn for the worse when Nola is seeing leaving Merlene’s establishment.
Melanie Schwapp wrote a character that is haunting, resilient, a fighter, and the overall embodiment of a true Jamaican woman- Nola is definitely one character I will always remember.
The book takes us on an unforgettable journey, for at least then years of Nola’s life. We see her face challenges, defeat, loss of love but we also see her grow and fight back in the most beautiful way. I went through a range of emotions reading this book from anger, to disbelief to joy. I cannot stress how much I love this book- I highly recommend this book.
2017
This book is near and dear to my heart, because my friend's Mom wrote this book and I received a signed copy. With that said, I was a little nervous to read the book because I felt like I had to like it, added to that my friend told me how great the book was. In the end I have to admit- I absolutely ADORED Dew Angels
Dew Angels is a story centered around Nola- a Jamaican girl born into a family who thinks having dark skin is an offense and proceeds to treat Nola as such. I would classify this as a coming of age novel as we see how Nola progresses from being a victim to overcoming in every area of her life.
Melanie Schwapp wrote a character that is haunting, resilient, a fighter, and the overall embodiment of a true Jamaican woman- Nola is definitely one character I will always remember.
I am always a fan of book that perfectly captures life in Jamaica, especially ones that contains colorful and believable characters. I laughed out loud, cried, and smiled having read this novel. What a brilliant read.
Must read in my book!
sherrise's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
knightreader1988's review
5.0
This book deserves ALL the stars!
I don't know how many times I walked past Dew Angels in my local bookstore. I didn't take the time to pick it up until a book club selected it as their January read. Wow. I am so grateful to that book club for this choice. It was an absolutely wonderful choice.
Dew Angels tells the story of Nola, a young Jamaican girl who is an outcast in her community because of the color of her skin. Not only is she shunned by those in her community but she also faces challenges at home. Despite these setbacks, Nola maneuvers her life as best as she can until fate deals her a deck of cards that changes the course of her life permanently. Nola's story is one of struggle, abuse, faith, bravery, friendship, love and forgiveness. It will literally make you laugh, cry and feel things only great books manage to do. The characters were developed and the plot moved along seamlessly. I honestly feel like the Dew Angels have cast their spell on me.
As Caribbean native, living currently in Jamaica, I cannot express how proud I am of this book. Maybe I'm gushing, but it will be a book I recommend to everyone. It was so authentically Jamaican and I think Melanie should be proud of this accomplishment. I sure am.
Shout out to the Book of Cinz Bookclub in T&T for bringing this book to my attention.
I don't know how many times I walked past Dew Angels in my local bookstore. I didn't take the time to pick it up until a book club selected it as their January read. Wow. I am so grateful to that book club for this choice. It was an absolutely wonderful choice.
Dew Angels tells the story of Nola, a young Jamaican girl who is an outcast in her community because of the color of her skin. Not only is she shunned by those in her community but she also faces challenges at home. Despite these setbacks, Nola maneuvers her life as best as she can until fate deals her a deck of cards that changes the course of her life permanently. Nola's story is one of struggle, abuse, faith, bravery, friendship, love and forgiveness. It will literally make you laugh, cry and feel things only great books manage to do. The characters were developed and the plot moved along seamlessly. I honestly feel like the Dew Angels have cast their spell on me.
As Caribbean native, living currently in Jamaica, I cannot express how proud I am of this book. Maybe I'm gushing, but it will be a book I recommend to everyone. It was so authentically Jamaican and I think Melanie should be proud of this accomplishment. I sure am.
Shout out to the Book of Cinz Bookclub in T&T for bringing this book to my attention.
neverwithoutabook's review
4.0
Dark-skinned Nola Chambers was born into a fair-skinned family. As a result, she is verbally and physically abused by her father and shunned by those in her school and her village. A series of tragic events separate her from those she loves and leave her believing that she is nothing but a source of shame, worthless and unlovable. But her personal strength and determination give her the courage to do remarkable things in the face of adversity and danger. Y'all this book is….WOW...you wont be disappointed.
kikireads's review
In interviews Melanie Schwapp has recounted how her experiences living in the UK and the US and then the return to life in Jamaica, land of her birth, opened her eyes to how "colour prejudice" existed in all three places. One has to wonder, then, why Schwapp did not write a story closer to her own life rather than try to transmute it through Nola, a poor, underprivileged, dark skinned teen born and raised in a rural Jamaican village.
Racism and colourism work differently in all three countries (indeed even within those countries). Being marginalised in such situations does not preclude persons from internalising ideas that are harmful to them and those with whom they may wish to ally. It takes years of mental and emotional labour informed by research and, in many cases, activism to root out and overcome racist concepts which are entrenched in our society's very foundations. When you write from a position of colour privilege, as Schwapp did with Dew Angel's Jamaican setting, you have to be extra careful, thorough, meticulous and sensitive in your approach.
Her writing style reflects that effort. At over 400+ pages I hardly felt the length at all. There is a memorable cast of characters and a strong sense of community that brings to mind the better, more entertaining Jamaican of plays. Nola is an easy to character to love and cheer for even in implausible action scenes that strain credulity. (It's that Jamaican play vibe. I really liked it.) The switch from third to first perspective in the epilogue was masterfully done. It gave it a based-on-a-true-story verisimilitude through which I could hear Nola's voice in my ear quietly and confidently declaring her truth.
None of that could overshadow the fact that this book, nominally one against colourism, misogynoir, classism and ableism, is steeped in 3 and wobbly on 4. That evergreen racist myth that 4 type hair can't grow makes an appearance along with the curious assertion in the novel's very first paragraph that the newborn baby had kinky hair. That's not how our hair works, Schwapp. Even if it was literary license, exaggerating a character's blackness has a problematic history, to put it mildly. These worrisome undercurrents finally generate a scene that should have been excised before publication: one of the villain's ordered a violent assault on Abediah, a Rastafarian, during which the hired assailant cut off his locs. Some time later the Abediah's mother, also rasta, unearths them from a brown paper bag (??) to give to Nola who then used it to help create a "homeless person" costume complete with "kitchen grease" on her face and black polish on her teeth.
A toxic Christianity permeates the story leading Nola to the kind of conclusions usually debunked in the most basic anti-gender based violence workshop. She took no pleasure from seeing her violently abusive father grovel, for if she did it would have made her "no better than the rest of them". Actually, no, Nola, taking delight in a grovel is not equivalent to the actions of a violent father and abusive community. But that was nothing compared to the revelation that caps Nola's years of heartbreaking struggle: "she could not hate a match for its flame, for that was what it had been created to do". Oh. God made her horrible father that way, him couldn't do no better. Right.
What would I have become if my papa had not deemed me different and unworthy of his love? I would have become one of them, looking for a fair-skinned donor to 'wash the black' out of me.
Oh. Is that what happens when fathers love their dark skin daughters?
What (and I cannot stress this enough) the actual fuck?
I am, at this point, too exhausted to get into the curious representation of the two disabled characters. Schwapp was determined to present them as lovable beings worthy of respect while letting you know they were very very ugly. (Schwapp devoted an entire paragraph to how "ugly!" Hopey was, a favour done for no neurotypical character in the entire novel.) Also, there was a scene in which the visible evidence of her father's abuse saved Nola from rape--truly a touching moment every victim whose accusations were ever dismissed because they did not fit into society's beauty ideals will really appreciate!
Cyaan even bodda fi get into the classist subtext crystallised in the book's conclusion.
Just...no.
Racism and colourism work differently in all three countries (indeed even within those countries). Being marginalised in such situations does not preclude persons from internalising ideas that are harmful to them and those with whom they may wish to ally. It takes years of mental and emotional labour informed by research and, in many cases, activism to root out and overcome racist concepts which are entrenched in our society's very foundations. When you write from a position of colour privilege, as Schwapp did with Dew Angel's Jamaican setting, you have to be extra careful, thorough, meticulous and sensitive in your approach.
Her writing style reflects that effort. At over 400+ pages I hardly felt the length at all. There is a memorable cast of characters and a strong sense of community that brings to mind the better, more entertaining Jamaican of plays. Nola is an easy to character to love and cheer for even in implausible action scenes that strain credulity. (It's that Jamaican play vibe. I really liked it.) The switch from third to first perspective in the epilogue was masterfully done. It gave it a based-on-a-true-story verisimilitude through which I could hear Nola's voice in my ear quietly and confidently declaring her truth.
None of that could overshadow the fact that this book, nominally one against colourism, misogynoir, classism and ableism, is steeped in 3 and wobbly on 4. That evergreen racist myth that 4 type hair can't grow makes an appearance along with the curious assertion in the novel's very first paragraph that the newborn baby had kinky hair. That's not how our hair works, Schwapp. Even if it was literary license, exaggerating a character's blackness has a problematic history, to put it mildly. These worrisome undercurrents finally generate a scene that should have been excised before publication: one of the villain's ordered a violent assault on Abediah, a Rastafarian, during which the hired assailant cut off his locs. Some time later the Abediah's mother, also rasta, unearths them from a brown paper bag (??) to give to Nola who then used it to help create a "homeless person" costume complete with "kitchen grease" on her face and black polish on her teeth.
A toxic Christianity permeates the story leading Nola to the kind of conclusions usually debunked in the most basic anti-gender based violence workshop. She took no pleasure from seeing her violently abusive father grovel, for if she did it would have made her "no better than the rest of them". Actually, no, Nola, taking delight in a grovel is not equivalent to the actions of a violent father and abusive community. But that was nothing compared to the revelation that caps Nola's years of heartbreaking struggle: "she could not hate a match for its flame, for that was what it had been created to do". Oh. God made her horrible father that way, him couldn't do no better. Right.
What would I have become if my papa had not deemed me different and unworthy of his love? I would have become one of them, looking for a fair-skinned donor to 'wash the black' out of me.
Oh. Is that what happens when fathers love their dark skin daughters?
What (and I cannot stress this enough) the actual fuck?
I am, at this point, too exhausted to get into the curious representation of the two disabled characters. Schwapp was determined to present them as lovable beings worthy of respect while letting you know they were very very ugly. (Schwapp devoted an entire paragraph to how "ugly!" Hopey was, a favour done for no neurotypical character in the entire novel.) Also, there was a scene in which the visible evidence of her father's abuse saved Nola from rape--truly a touching moment every victim whose accusations were ever dismissed because they did not fit into society's beauty ideals will really appreciate!
Cyaan even bodda fi get into the classist subtext crystallised in the book's conclusion.
Just...no.
llincathryn's review
4.0
I loved that this story focused on women who had been persecuted and hurt (often by men or by their patriarchal society) finding strength, happiness and safety in their relationships with other women, as friends, mentors and surrogate family. It was wonderful to see Nola gradually take control of her life with the support of the family she found for herself after her family of origin failed to give her what she needed to thrive. This wasn’t an easy story to read – it broke my heart about twelve times – but I cared deeply about Nola and what happened to her and reading her story was ultimately joyful and uplifting.
Read the full review at Starship Library.
Read the full review at Starship Library.
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