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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
3.5 - I had some serious confusion throughout around which character was who and what timeline we were in. The jumping in timelines and perspectives was just crossing the line into too messy for me. It could have used some clarification and tightening up I think. But there is something to be said for that blurring of time and person- that these women really have shared stories among their uniqueness, so I can't totally right off the approach. I appreciate what the author was going for and it was *almost* there for me. But with a story about freedom and personhood- I would have wanted more of the individual-ness of each character to shine out a little more.
Not a perfect book, but I think has some great qualities. This is a debut novel, so I am very interested to see future works from this author.
Not a perfect book, but I think has some great qualities. This is a debut novel, so I am very interested to see future works from this author.
This was the saving grace of my terrible month of reading! I could barely put this one down. It was a very heavy and very sad book, but I absolutely loved the poetic way it was written and the creative and speculative aspect of the plot. This book was especially difficult to read given the political climate right now as I now no longer find dystopian or speculative fiction books—two of my favourite genres ever—to be totally out of the realm of possibility anymore. Literally anything could happen now. I never thought I’d hear talks of annexation of my home and yet here we are.
This had echoes of The Handmaid’s Tale which is partially why I loved it so much. This is also such an excellent depiction of the complexities of abuse and abusive power dynamics mixed with “love.” Solenne’s struggles throughout the book with conflicting and confusing feelings of love and hatred for her captor—the man that literally writes the laws that continue to enslave her and women who look like her—were such an interesting element to this book. I think my only criticism is that I wish more was done to explain how the United States came to be in this situation. What was provided was very brief and I would have loved if another timeline was added that depicted the rapid change that happened to the American society following their second civil war. I also really enjoyed the way Rae Giana Rashad paralleled Solenne’s story with that of her ancestor living as a white slave owner’s concubine in the very early 1800s. Layering that history with an incredibly similar modern event was deeply unsettling. Even though the 1800s seem so far in the past, if I’ve learned anything this year, it’s not nearly far enough. Black women deserve better.
This had echoes of The Handmaid’s Tale which is partially why I loved it so much. This is also such an excellent depiction of the complexities of abuse and abusive power dynamics mixed with “love.” Solenne’s struggles throughout the book with conflicting and confusing feelings of love and hatred for her captor—the man that literally writes the laws that continue to enslave her and women who look like her—were such an interesting element to this book. I think my only criticism is that I wish more was done to explain how the United States came to be in this situation. What was provided was very brief and I would have loved if another timeline was added that depicted the rapid change that happened to the American society following their second civil war. I also really enjoyed the way Rae Giana Rashad paralleled Solenne’s story with that of her ancestor living as a white slave owner’s concubine in the very early 1800s. Layering that history with an incredibly similar modern event was deeply unsettling. Even though the 1800s seem so far in the past, if I’ve learned anything this year, it’s not nearly far enough. Black women deserve better.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The premise was interesting (and maybe not as dystopian as one might think regarding current events), but Solenne is a very reactive character. I missed personal growth and insight into her thoughts. The story about Henriette also lacks a conclusion and it was sometimes hard to distinguish between the two POVs and I feel like it didn't really impact Solenne in her decisions. The writing and atmosphere were good, but sometimes repetitive.
What if the civil rights movement in the 1950s had actually triggers Civil War II in the USA?
This novel imagines a current time where that did happen and the Order has been controlling the USA since. The constitution is no more. Louisiana is the only "free state" remaining. Within the order, white men control everything. Black men have some freedoms, but are second class citizens. Black women have no autonomy at all. At the age of 16 they are assigned to a white man for a period of time.
The central character of this novel is Solenne, a young black woman. Her story is told on dual timelines; Then and Now. Then, we have flashbacks to her youth and early years of her assignment within in the Order. Now, is her struggle to forge her own path in this world. At the same time, we are learning the story of Solenne's ancestor, Henriette, who was captured in Africa, transported to America and sold in to slavery.
A powerful and disturbing novel, especially set against the current political climate in the US.
This novel imagines a current time where that did happen and the Order has been controlling the USA since. The constitution is no more. Louisiana is the only "free state" remaining. Within the order, white men control everything. Black men have some freedoms, but are second class citizens. Black women have no autonomy at all. At the age of 16 they are assigned to a white man for a period of time.
The central character of this novel is Solenne, a young black woman. Her story is told on dual timelines; Then and Now. Then, we have flashbacks to her youth and early years of her assignment within in the Order. Now, is her struggle to forge her own path in this world. At the same time, we are learning the story of Solenne's ancestor, Henriette, who was captured in Africa, transported to America and sold in to slavery.
A powerful and disturbing novel, especially set against the current political climate in the US.
challenging
dark