Reviews

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

chamsae's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

bowa_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

thebobsphere's review against another edition

3.0

 In theory I should have liked How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her house; it’s got different timelines, it’s pushes boundaries, is thematically rich and the author has a distinctive writing style.

But it all fell flat.

The One-Armed Sister of the title is the result of a cautionary tale that the main protagonist, Lala’s, grandmother tells her. The morale being that if one breaks rules then a price will be paid,

We readers find out that Lala is in an unhappy marriage, loses her baby (it’s in the blurb), is surrounded by shifty friends and is the product of an unloved household. The book is portrayal of abusive relationships, chauvinism and the corrupt Jamaican government.

Although I did admire what the author did in this book, I just felt bored and I had a lot of difficulty trying to ‘get’ it. Definitely a case of me, not the book. 

hereforthefunofit's review against another edition

3.75

damn this is a STORY AND A HALF

jess_mango's review against another edition

4.0

Set in a small beach community in Barbados in the mid-1980's How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House tells of the relationships & clashes between the locals and the rich tourists & ex-pats. One night after an attempted robbery at an ex-pat's mansion goes bad, a number of events occur that leave several lives shattered.

I enjoyed this one! The audiobook was great. This was the author's debut novel and I will be following her to see what else she writes.

hckilgour's review against another edition

I dnf’ed at 47%

I honestly just didn’t care about any of the characters. And I was honestly really peeved that the grandma decided victim blaming (the women in their family are just too pretty) was the right way to go when rationalizing rape (even if it was realistic).

I also just didn’t see how the two women’s stories were connected (outside of the murder). 

And honestly, almost nothing happened.

treberry's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

this was brutal! It’s a completely different lens of the tropical paradise that is Barbados. A dead baby. Crime. Women with no voice, subjected to hell on a daily basis in such a beautiful place. It was very gutting and full of different types of abuse. 

Whew, this was a heavy read, but I’m used to reading soul crushing stories. I had the misfortune of reading this while studying for an exam so my nerves were pretty much all over the place. 

This is a deeply wounding story that will forever make me wince at the thought of it!

bocasbri's review against another edition

3.5

this book really was not what i thought it was about at all. but that would be on me for not reading the description at all.

this is a story filled with pain and heartbreak. i felt for lala on so many levels. i found all the intersecting characters to be interesting. the author did a good job at making you feel for these characters and wanting to see them succeed (well at least some of them lol). 

unfortunately, i found myself struggling through the book. many of the characters didn’t have enough depth for me to be interested in their story. the writing was a bit choppy and hard to follow at some points.

kate_cunningham's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

plaidpladd's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0