asolweb's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
michrego's review
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
alyssawagg's review
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
kittykornerlibrarian's review
5.0
This book completely brought me into both worlds that the characters inhabit... Dana is a Black woman who lives in the late 1970s in California. She's a fiction writer and she's married to a white man who is also a fiction writer. When they move into their first house, Dana is abruptly pulled back into the past, 1815 on a Maryland slave plantation. She's apparently summoned to save the life of a five year old white boy who has fallen into the river. She rescues the boy and then disappears back into her own time. The entire book involves her going back and forth between her own time and this other one; and the most chilling sentence in the whole book is when Dana says she can't believe it is so easy to get used to living in slavery. The story is told in first person from Dana's point of view. Dana's voice is strong and authentic. This book really pulled me in. It's a powerful experience.
adamd's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
bookwormdystopian2's review
challenging
dark
fast-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
4.5
Graphic: Slavery and Racial slurs
Moderate: Misogyny
sammy_'s review
5.0
The premise of this book grabbed me as soon as I read it: Dana, a Black woman in 1976, is pulled back in time to a slave plantation in antebellum Maryland. She begins to involuntarily hop between her time and the 19th century, discovering she is pulled back whenever the life of her ancestor - the white plantation owner's son - is at risk. To save both his and her life, Dana and Rufus must learn to work together against both of their innate instincts.
The execution of the premise lived up to its promise, both as a time travel story and an exploration of slavery: the risks faced by a Black time traveller in the pre-Civil War south make a brutally appropriate setting for exploring the barbarism of the antebellum south. The rationalist in me would have liked slightly more logic and rationale to the time travel - but the approach was more one of magical realism, and the book was so good I have to let it slide ;)
The execution of the premise lived up to its promise, both as a time travel story and an exploration of slavery: the risks faced by a Black time traveller in the pre-Civil War south make a brutally appropriate setting for exploring the barbarism of the antebellum south. The rationalist in me would have liked slightly more logic and rationale to the time travel - but the approach was more one of magical realism, and the book was so good I have to let it slide ;)
charadreemurr18a39's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rthpr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0