Reviews

Belle by Beverly Jenkins

domdddd's review against another edition

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5.0

I've read this book sooooooo many times. It is one of my favorite YA historical fiction romances. It is not explicit and Beverly Jenkins does not fact dump on the reader! Check it out !!!

scorpioqueen's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

domsqueendom's review

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5.0

I've read this book sooooooo many times. It is one of my favorite YA historical fiction romances. It is not explicit and Beverly Jenkins does not fact dump on the reader! Check it out !!!

gillianc695a's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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

3.5

arisbookcorner's review against another edition

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2.0

I remember roaming the aisles of a small library (not my main Chicago ones) and seeing lots of cheesy historical romance titles with white faces on the spine. And then I came across two by Beverly Jenkins. Yes they had cheesy names but they were about Black people. I was too embarrassed to check them out but I was thrilled when she re-did them for a YA audience. I'm curious if they are the exact same or if she toned them down (who knows maybe the romances are sickly sweet). But anyway this was a nice ideal of romance amongst former slaves since that was something so often denied slaves in real life. It's nice to imagine once they escaped they were able to find romantic love too. But I didn't find the writing that strong or the historical details that new.

nicolewhopickedthisbook's review

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5.0

This is such a sweet, young adult, romance. I love Mama and Papa Best! They are literally the best lol
Francine was a witch and I’m so glad Mama Best gave her the dressing down she deserved!
Moving on to JoJo’s story!

256 pages toward The Booktube Games

caroleb's review

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3.0

This was my first time reading YA historical romance and my feelings are mixed. The core story is great. Belle Palmer, a formerly enslaved young woman of 16 years saves herself by running north to freedom via the Underground Railroad and is met upon her arrival in Michigan by a 12 year old girl and her older brother, the youngest members of a family of black abolitionists. That aspect of the story, Belle’s relationship with those kids and their parents and her acclimation to a new life, is engrossing and immediately draws you in.

On the other hand, it sort of haunts me how problematic and old-fashioned the book was in its treatment of sex, how much of Belle’s characterization is delivered through her comparison to another young woman. This is especially troubling given that this book is aimed at young people and is self conscious about being a tool of learning. This book is intentionally didactic. It comes with discussion questions for schoolteachers that focus on the historic elements— from slavery and the Underground Railroad to sewing machines.

Though I was very conscious of the educational aims of the novel throughout, it didn’t dampen my enjoyment most of the time. I liked reading about how Belle becomes a part of this loving family and falls in love with the son. I liked their relationship and her growth. The primary conflict is the lingering fear of being discovered by slave catchers and the fact that Belle’s father was not so lucky. His fate is up in the air throughout the story and others in the community are similarly threatened in addition to Belle. That works fairly well although it seems as though that threat is not quite as sharp as one might expect.

So Belle settles in with her new family and they all pretty much get on with their lives cognizant of but not too much changed by the danger. As the possibility of recapture becomes less a concern, the real focus of conflict, the key impediment to Belle’s happiness then becomes the anything that threatens her relationship with Daniel and place in the family. That’s where things go off kilter.

The book is significantly weakened by a subplot involving a preexisting rival for Daniel’s affections, the pretty but vapid Francine “the Queen”. Unlike the Best family, Francine couldn’t give two hoots about slavery. She’s snobbish, selfish, and, the text makes quite clear, “fast”. In other words she is wholly unworthy of Daniel’s love. The problem is Francine is incredibly one dimensional. She’s pretty much a cartoon villain, and her villainy, her meanness, is way too closely tied to her fastness. Francine tried to embarrass Belle about her enslavement. She ridicules her (a woman just out of captivity) for her clothes. Francine is a teenager barely older than Belle, but Belle is “an innocent” and Francine is not, and that is presented as just one of the latter’s many inferior qualities.

The two young women are repeatedly compared and contrasted and pitted against one another. The text tears Francine down to build Belle up, and that’s an unfortunate and unnecessary way to build a character and a relationship. All of Francine’s attributes are intertwined to seem like equivalent, closely tied sins when Francine liking kisses or fooling around or sex shouldn’t be in any way connected to her real faults. The text overtly and repeatedly slut shames Francine, and it’s too bad, because there are so many valid reasons to shame her unlike having sexual desires, which isn’t something YA novels should be teaching kids to feel bad about.

The relationship between Daniel and Belle and Belle and the rest of the family develops nicely. I enjoyed that very much. I just wish we had heard less from this unnecessary antagonist or that she was portrayed in a more multidimensional and less sexist way.

allbookedup4's review

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5.0

Beverly Jenkins can do no wrong. Cannot wait to read the sequel!
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