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alenka's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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
I LOVED this, oh man. Ophie is a wonderful character - strong in a kind of quiet, solid way, which makes sense considering who her parents are, and what they've endured. She's a child and she wants to play and learn and explore, but she's starting to be interested in romance - at least in stories in magazines - and is thrilled to be friends with older girls and young women. Knowing Ireland, this attention from older women perhaps speaks to some queerness, as well.
Ireland makes the city a character, as well as Daffodil Manor, the trolleys - she creates conversations and relationships between parts of the city and the people within it that are really fascinating. Houses want to embrace and look after who is within them, Pittsburgh has a body made up of her parts that serve people in different ways, Aunt Rose's house has particular feelings on how it wants to be cared for - each little chapter that anthropomorphizes these places fills in the world around Ophie, despite Ophie herself being largely stuck in one place. Ireland lets us know that the city is large and complex, and Ophie is a small piece of it but can have a large impact.
I enjoyed how Ireland played with the mystery aspects of the story - and I didn't quite guess the culprit, which was cool! It's fun to see Ophie reading detective stories and then implementing things she learns from them. There is so much emotional weight to this story - grief, not just for specific individuals, but for the potential and brightness and incredible amount of lives lost to the trauma of slavery - but Ophie is still a child, still plays, still looks for things to learn and adventures to have. Ireland balances these different tones and aspects of the story brilliantly.
A powerful, wonderfully crafted ghost story.
Ireland makes the city a character, as well as Daffodil Manor, the trolleys - she creates conversations and relationships between parts of the city and the people within it that are really fascinating. Houses want to embrace and look after who is within them, Pittsburgh has a body made up of her parts that serve people in different ways, Aunt Rose's house has particular feelings on how it wants to be cared for - each little chapter that anthropomorphizes these places fills in the world around Ophie, despite Ophie herself being largely stuck in one place. Ireland lets us know that the city is large and complex, and Ophie is a small piece of it but can have a large impact.
I enjoyed how Ireland played with the mystery aspects of the story - and I didn't quite guess the culprit, which was cool! It's fun to see Ophie reading detective stories and then implementing things she learns from them. There is so much emotional weight to this story - grief, not just for specific individuals, but for the potential and brightness and incredible amount of lives lost to the trauma of slavery - but Ophie is still a child, still plays, still looks for things to learn and adventures to have. Ireland balances these different tones and aspects of the story brilliantly.
A powerful, wonderfully crafted ghost story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Racial slurs, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Torture
As this is a ghost story, there are some descriptions of ghosts showing signs of how they died. They're not intensely graphic. There is a particular character who uses racial slurs and is very clearly and blatantly described as the racist old lady that she is.
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