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tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Graphic: Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Outing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Excrement, Genocide, and Sexual content
Minor: Abortion, Incest, Suicide, Mental illness, Vomit, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug use
Moderate: Religious trauma, Environmental degradationnoahsingh's review against another edition
3.75
Pros:
-Everyone has already said this but yeah obviously the writing is really good.
- Enjoyed that we get a perspective chapter from almost every enslaved character. Especially enjoyed Maggie and Sarah's perspectives.
-Samuel and Kayodes relationship is beautifully written. Its the first book I've read set during the transatlantic slave trade with focuses on queer black characters, and it was really interesting to read a perspective on that.
-I loved loved loved the King Asuka chapters, my only complaint there is that I wish there had been a lot more of that narrative in general. Same for Sarah's narrative. The exploration of black queerness and transness as not yet warped by slavery and colonialism is definitely one of the strongest aspects of this book to me.
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Cons:
-Not enough time spent with each characters, and I didn't see the need for Paul's chapters being so long.
-I personally don't enjoy too much description/poetic language which gets in the way of the actual narrative, which I think this book suffered from a bit. Its all very well-written but I think some of it could have definitely been cut down. But this is a personal bias of mine obvy.
-Some elements of the book were underdeveloped, for example the Beulah/Be Auntie connection, the Seven/Vs the Seven aunts, etc
-So so so much (trigger warning) rape. I understand it's historically accurate to the enslavement of black individuals in America but the explicitness and repeated graphic descriptions seemed unnecessary and kinda excessive for me. For example,
-A lot of the characters don't get a conclusive ending, of course that's hard to do when most of the characters are enslaved individuals and escape from slavery was practically impossible.
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Outing, Rape, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Gore, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Child death, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Transphobia, Vomit, Sexism, Suicide, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Excrement, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Blood, and Suicide attempt
mackenzienoelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Sexual content, Trafficking, Genocide, Racism, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Rape
Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Excrement, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide, Transphobia, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
seawarrior's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Transphobia
n_asyikin_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Interspersed in between were ancestral voices, providing a touch of the supernatural & spiritual; once again, acting as a sort of purveyor of the truth for a group of people who saw their humanity, identity & history erased. These "ancestral voices" returning what was stolen in increment, providing a "break" between the distinct character-specific narration.
Jones gave dimensions to each perspective by enabling readers to compare how their perspectives were influenced by their social standings & their inherent needs. Jones did so by contrasting characters based on their similarity & putting said similarity through the lens of their differences; intersectional identities being the main modulator. Through them, readers were able to explore & infer what motivated each character, see how the 'self' interacted with the external world to drive certain behaviour. This built a complex structure which may require some time for readers to process & digest. At the end though, your time should be worth it. Take it as an in-depth look into each character as the story progressed.
The writings were unbelievably beautiful with its lyricism; the symbolisms used should be perceived as significant, representing the voices of those typically forced not to have any. That beauty can cushioned the brutal reality the characters faced at times, yet also stressed it on others; I thought Jones balanced it out neatly. One constant was how the story felt that it encapsulated something tremendous, beyond what was held amongst its pages.
Please heed to the trigger warnings. I personally found some scenes to be really heavy, so do take care while reading this. That being said, "The Prophets" was a powerful read about re-owning one's being, identity, & history. It spoke about how love could be a balm in a cruel reality. It was unforgiving in its resonance, & deserved to be heard.
Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence
jennikreads's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Transphobia, Violence, and Blood