Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

64 reviews

welkinvault's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This multigenerational tome was chosen purely as it was recommended by a book youtuber I follow.  I really wanted to like this, but it was though I was reading a different novel to them.  I started with this 30 hour audio but after a few hours bought the book too as I thought it was my fault that I found huge chunks of the novel long, flat and two dimensional (even though the narration was very good). 

The historical sections were interesting (although too much sexual violence reported almost in passing with little effort to show the impact on the survivors or the community).  The more contemporary main storyline of the very immature, precocious, Ailey and her romances was lengthly and not engaging.   As a coming of age story I found I was largely uninterested in her growth or her ridiculous reasonings for her prickly and almost combative realations with her school/undergraduate peers.  

That is until about the 550 page mark when the book started to tie together all the threads, Ailey finally gained some maturity and the emotional resonance that was missing from the first chunk of the novel was delivered (especially in the historical scenes).  At that point  I found I could not put the book down.  

The character of Root was fasciating, and I did want to know what happened to Nick, but for such a sprawling choppy work the author did a great job in tying up so many threads at the conclusion of the novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Child death, Colonisation, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Rape

syellico's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This book is an undertaking. I read it with a group over 3 months as a slow and steady which I know affected my experience. Prolonging some of the absolutely horrible subject matter probably made it an even more difficult read than it is. 
In the end, I was just ready to be done and I probably missed some impact because of it. 
For me, it was just too long and I never was able to completely keep track of the multitude of characters. Major trigger warnings abound.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Addiction, Body horror, Blood, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review

challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Torture, Violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

3littlewordz's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

 “Even in a place of sorrow, time passes. Even in a place of joy." And so passes time in the Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers. 

This book was perfect. Simply incredibly perfect. I’ve seen people in the book-osphere that have mentioned wanting to be able to read a book again for the first time, and this is one of those books. I already know that this epic novel is one of my top reads of all time. Yes, I’ve already called it. 

So many themes were explored in the centuries covered in this storyline: slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, the displacement and genocide of Indigenous people, sexual assault/incest, casual racism and racial terror, colorism (including passing), distrust, family secrets, drug addiction, segregation, life at an HBCU vs. PWI, the journey through academia as a black person…so many more. Another throughline explored beautifully was the Black American’s relationship to food, and how it could be both soothing and harmful. And of course, Du Bois!! His pen is razor-sharp and I absolutely love how the quotes at the beginning of each Song were so superbly chosen for that portion of the book. Ultimately, the strong family bonds wrapped me up like a warm, cozy blanket, even when the family dealt with strife and pain. 

Now, there are SEVERAL triggers in this book, and several themes mentioned above are explored in rather explicit detail. If you haven't yet started on the path to healing for those triggers (mainly sexual assault and abuse), some parts of this story may be too heavy for you. I finished some chapters and had to close my eyes and decompress. 

Jeffers' writing style is exquisite. I particularly enjoyed the historical anchors (beyond simple dates) included throughout the novel that oriented me to time and place. It's easy to tell that she's a poet by the phrasing and descriptions used throughout. Her world-building was so expansive and wonderfully done that I blinked and devoured 50-100 pages at a time. I actually read all except the very first chapter in 8 days - I didn't mind reading all 800 pages quickly! 

Simply put, read this book. And if you’ve already read this and are equally as enamored with this type of story as I am, I strongly recommend Some Sing, Some Cry by Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Abortion, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Death, Genocide, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Pregnancy

vicktorea's review

emotional reflective

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

4.75

wow. a literal Black epic!

this was so fantastic! i loved the deep dive into Black history and learning the deep roots of the characters! i felt so deeply connected to them - i laughed with them, grieved with them, felt their anger and frustrations and also felt moments of anger and frustration towards them.

This was looong but everything was interwoven and came together beautifully! A very memorable read!

I listened to the audio for this via Hoopla and really enjoyed the narration!

I urge to check the CWs for this - there are many! Some of the most notable being: rape, (child/domestic/physical/emotional) abuse, /pedophilia/molestation, racism, slavery. The author does not shy away from depicting the realistic historical mistreatment of Black people (particularly young, Black, female slaves).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

Minor: Child death

ohsonoelle's review

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Bullying

lauravreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring relaxing 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? No

5.0

Following two timelines, one in the late 1700s and the other in the 1970s. The timeline in the 1700s follows an indigenous and African mixed community and how they experience colonization which will soon transition into slavery. In the 1970s timeline it follows a young teenager.

This is hands down the best book I have ever read! I know there is already hype for this book but it honestly deserves more. I was left in awe when I finished. This book has some favorite such as tropes multiple timelines and multigenerational family narrations. It is so well written with easy to love characters. I felt so deeply while reading it was hard not to with the writing and depth in it. 

I literally have nothing bad to say. It was a perfect 5⭐️ for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Violence, Incest, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Slavery, Genocide, Grief, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Death

deereadingwallflower's review

emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Abortion, Addiction, Child abuse, Grief, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, and Slavery

malexandriay's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Addiction, Colonisation, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Incest, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, and Physical abuse

kierajane's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Death, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Addiction, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Grief, and Sexual violence