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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It’s rare that a dystopian novel leaves me with such a strong sense of narrative closure but Solenne’s story felt complete in a way that was deeply ancestral, even if it wasn’t conventionally triumphant.
What moved me most was how Rae Giana Rashad held the tension between loss and legacy, between what was taken from Solenne and what she reclaimed through imagination, memory, and story.
Solenne’s lack of agency, the grief she endures, and the haunting of her own silence mirror what so many of our foremothers endured. But what made this book unforgettable to me is that Solenne still wins. Not through escape or revolution (I had hoped so!) but through the radical act of writing. Of remembering. Of refusing to let Henriette's story, or her own, fade into oblivion.
As she writes her ancestor's story, Solenne imagines what freedom might feel like, even if she hasn’t fully lived it.
That act alone felt like a prayer for Black women across generations: to imagine ourselves free even when our bodies are not.
I’m still holding the line:
“Darkness always leaves a side door open. That’s what I would tell my daughter. Be loud.”
A beautiful, searing novel.
What moved me most was how Rae Giana Rashad held the tension between loss and legacy, between what was taken from Solenne and what she reclaimed through imagination, memory, and story.
Solenne’s lack of agency, the grief she endures, and the haunting of her own silence mirror what so many of our foremothers endured. But what made this book unforgettable to me is that Solenne still wins. Not through escape or revolution (I had hoped so!) but through the radical act of writing. Of remembering. Of refusing to let Henriette's story, or her own, fade into oblivion.
As she writes her ancestor's story, Solenne imagines what freedom might feel like, even if she hasn’t fully lived it.
That act alone felt like a prayer for Black women across generations: to imagine ourselves free even when our bodies are not.
I’m still holding the line:
“Darkness always leaves a side door open. That’s what I would tell my daughter. Be loud.”
A beautiful, searing novel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism
dark
emotional
fast-paced
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Murder
Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy