Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
emotional
sad
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
sad
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:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery
This was a great continuation to Yellow Crocus. It was great to see where Lisbeth and Mattie were in their lives after leaving Virginia. Two strong women who created a life away from the ways of the Confederate South. Going back to Virginia after the Civil War has ended, it was frustrating to read how some people refused to face defeat and change their ways. It was also very sad to read how former slaves were still being treated as if they were owned. Sometimes additional books in a series do not live up to the first novel, but Mustard Seed kept the story interesting and left me with still wanting to know more about the characters. I was surprised to just read that the author is actually working on a third book! I hope I won't have to wait too long to read more of Lisbeth, Mattie and Jordan's stories.
This was my second read for February and was another great read to fit into this month's theme I am reading in honor of Black History Month.
This was my second read for February and was another great read to fit into this month's theme I am reading in honor of Black History Month.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Wow.....powerful.....Really liked the parallel stories and how they were interconnected both in Ohio and in the south, both in the past and in the current time. Really felt for the characters. Although I may not have liked some and their actions, I could see understand how they could be the people they were. After all, not everyone is strong enough or brave enough to rise above, break barriers, blaze trails. Suspenseful in the right places. Endearing in the right places. A terrific read.
Beautiful sequel to Yellow Crocus. I was very curious about the fate of these characters and this book did not disappoint.
These books are amazing!
I read Yellow Crocus not know there was a sequel. Well, I picked that up once I found it! I absolutely love these books. They bring a very difficult part of our history alive and do it beautifully! The lives of these two women are intertwined forever and this was a great book! I will be picking up the last one!
I read Yellow Crocus not know there was a sequel. Well, I picked that up once I found it! I absolutely love these books. They bring a very difficult part of our history alive and do it beautifully! The lives of these two women are intertwined forever and this was a great book! I will be picking up the last one!
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:
No
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This is the sequel to yellow crocus. It was just a shy less well written - some sections veering off to a teachy-like tone, and the audible narrator’s use of a lisp for Sadie annoyed me. But this book, like its predecessor packed a big punch. Reconstruction era and the rise of Jim Crow laws is not covered enough in literature and this book does an excellent job at capturing the cruelty and unethical nature of those laws. The vagrancy law that was the forbearer of mass incarceration is one in particular. The way it is depicted in this book cut my soul to the core. Also, the decision of some former slaves to stay put just in case lost/sold family members could return and find them was poignant. I have, of course, not endured slavery, but some of my children are adopted from Ethiopia and we had the luck to track down their grandmother in Addis Ababa. That reunion, possible because their grandmother never moved, and seeing her reunite with grandchildren she though were forever lost to her had to be comparable to some of the scenes depicted in this book. Oh this book made me cry. The strength this country’s freed slaves had to muster just to survive their experiences is overwhelming to think about. That we still live with this legacy is something many of us need to read about to grasp and understand.
In the words of Malorie Blackman:
“Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.”
In the words of Malorie Blackman:
“Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.”