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todallyanika's review against another edition
2.0
The concept of this book is beautiful and timeless — it follows three sisters trying to maintain their relationship and connection to their culture and homeland as they are kidnapped from Mali and taken on a journey to be sold into slavery in the new world. The beginning is fascinating, I learned a lot about Bambara culture and Islamic Mali in the 1700s. The relationship between the three sisters is well written and believable. The climax was also a page turner. Unfortunately, it drags on and on and I felt as long as this book was, not a lot really happened.
What really drew me away from the book, and would have caused me to DNF if I wasn’t reading it as an ARC was the near constant sexual harassment, assault and rape. The treatment of the sisters may have been accurate, but it was constant and grotesque. I left feeling that I didn’t read a book about sisterhood amidst slavery, I read a book about rape that happened to have sisters in it. I have read other books in this genre that also follow women’s journey through the Middle Passage that discuss the sexual assault that occurred without being so graphic about it. Most of the book left me feeling sick to my stomach.
I would give other pieces by this author a chance, I liked her writing style, I just wished that I knew just how triggering of a book I was getting into when I requested it.
I was given this e-book as an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.
What really drew me away from the book, and would have caused me to DNF if I wasn’t reading it as an ARC was the near constant sexual harassment, assault and rape. The treatment of the sisters may have been accurate, but it was constant and grotesque. I left feeling that I didn’t read a book about sisterhood amidst slavery, I read a book about rape that happened to have sisters in it. I have read other books in this genre that also follow women’s journey through the Middle Passage that discuss the sexual assault that occurred without being so graphic about it. Most of the book left me feeling sick to my stomach.
I would give other pieces by this author a chance, I liked her writing style, I just wished that I knew just how triggering of a book I was getting into when I requested it.
I was given this e-book as an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.
linda48's review
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery
the_sassy_bookworm's review against another edition
3.0
⭐⭐⭐
I am not sure what to say about this one. It was just SO hard to get through. Not because it was a badly written book, but the subject matter and how graphic it was, made it extremely triggering. This story is about author's own family and definitely not for the faint of heart. Proceed with caution.
Graphic depictions of rape, mass death, mutilation.
**ARC Via NetGalley**
I am not sure what to say about this one. It was just SO hard to get through. Not because it was a badly written book, but the subject matter and how graphic it was, made it extremely triggering. This story is about author's own family and definitely not for the faint of heart. Proceed with caution.
Graphic depictions of rape, mass death, mutilation.
**ARC Via NetGalley**
emilyfrombookmarq's review against another edition
3.0
TW: sexual assault, rape, violence, mass killings
There are very few books I find so raw and harrowing that I struggle to finish them. I had a physical reaction to Scattered Seed, and I highly recommend it to others for furthering your education of the true origins of slavery through the Middle Passage.
Scattered Seeds follows three sisters of royalty living in Middle Passage era Timbuktu. The daughters of a linguistics professor, all three women possess distinct expertise that make their lives easier as wives and mothers. On the eve of the youngest sister's wedding, the women are captured and forced into the slave trade, where the sisters must ban together and use their unique talents to avoid the traumatic, often-fatal journey to the Americas.
There were so many times I wanted to DNF this book, not because of the writing or the plot, but because the story is so graphic. What's harder to swallow is that it's authentic and unfiltered, historically accurate. These atrocities were committed on a grand scale, and violence against women, specifically black women is just as prevalent as ever. Then to learn this story is about Francine Thomas Howard's own family? And you realize that millions of families have evolved from these same exact origins? It's gut-wrenching, yet we all owe it to their memories to continue studying and sharing these stories, no matter how uncomfortable they are to read.
There are very few books I find so raw and harrowing that I struggle to finish them. I had a physical reaction to Scattered Seed, and I highly recommend it to others for furthering your education of the true origins of slavery through the Middle Passage.
Scattered Seeds follows three sisters of royalty living in Middle Passage era Timbuktu. The daughters of a linguistics professor, all three women possess distinct expertise that make their lives easier as wives and mothers. On the eve of the youngest sister's wedding, the women are captured and forced into the slave trade, where the sisters must ban together and use their unique talents to avoid the traumatic, often-fatal journey to the Americas.
There were so many times I wanted to DNF this book, not because of the writing or the plot, but because the story is so graphic. What's harder to swallow is that it's authentic and unfiltered, historically accurate. These atrocities were committed on a grand scale, and violence against women, specifically black women is just as prevalent as ever. Then to learn this story is about Francine Thomas Howard's own family? And you realize that millions of families have evolved from these same exact origins? It's gut-wrenching, yet we all owe it to their memories to continue studying and sharing these stories, no matter how uncomfortable they are to read.
shannanh's review
4.0
This book is listed as being powerful, and it truly was. I went through all kinds of emotions while reading this book, and cried many time, I actually lost count. Although I was hoping for a different ending, it is what it is and I still enjoyed the story. It was truly an enlightening historical read. I'm still thinking about the characters long after I've finished he book. It was such a captivating story, and I can't wait to see what comes next from this author.
I received a copy of the book via Net galley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review of my own thoughts and opinions.
I received a copy of the book via Net galley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review of my own thoughts and opinions.
mailovesbooksblog's review against another edition
3.0
A very interesting read!
Rating: 3/5
Synopsis:
Three sisters navigate the horrors of the Middle Passage in a powerful historical novel about family, honor, and the will to live, by the author of The Daughter of Union County.
Timbuktu, western Africa, 1706. Folashade, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a professor of linguistics, is sent south with her older sisters, Bibi and Adaeze, to endure the painful ceremony that a girl on the cusp of womanhood is expected to.
In Djenné, on the banks of the Niger, the sisters’ fate and that of their fellow Bambara are changed forever when they’re kidnapped, marched toward grueling indignities on Gorée Island, and eventually hauled aboard an English slaver bound for the Americas. Before they are inevitably separated, Folashade, Bibi, and Adaeze plot to keep their memories alive.
Drawing from her ancestry, Francine Thomas Howard gives an authentic voice to the horrors of the Middle Passage—and an empowered one to a girl who is determined to survive, to honor her father and Timbuktu, and to ensure that her and her sisters’ names will never be forgotten.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me an eARC!!
Rating: 3/5
Synopsis:
Three sisters navigate the horrors of the Middle Passage in a powerful historical novel about family, honor, and the will to live, by the author of The Daughter of Union County.
Timbuktu, western Africa, 1706. Folashade, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a professor of linguistics, is sent south with her older sisters, Bibi and Adaeze, to endure the painful ceremony that a girl on the cusp of womanhood is expected to.
In Djenné, on the banks of the Niger, the sisters’ fate and that of their fellow Bambara are changed forever when they’re kidnapped, marched toward grueling indignities on Gorée Island, and eventually hauled aboard an English slaver bound for the Americas. Before they are inevitably separated, Folashade, Bibi, and Adaeze plot to keep their memories alive.
Drawing from her ancestry, Francine Thomas Howard gives an authentic voice to the horrors of the Middle Passage—and an empowered one to a girl who is determined to survive, to honor her father and Timbuktu, and to ensure that her and her sisters’ names will never be forgotten.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me an eARC!!
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