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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
A bit too many mystical elements for me. In my opinion, it distracted from the story.
Interspersed with a bunch of lighter, chick-lit types of books that I've read lately, I've been slowly making my way through this book. I wanted to read this one at a much slower pace, not only because of the violence and pain, but because of the truly beautiful and lyrical writing. It's not a book you can race through quickly. You want to read a bit, sit a while, breathe deeply, reflect. It's a book that makes me want to take a literature course, because it's calling out for analysis and discussion. I read several online reviews after finishing the book, and there are comparisons to Faulkner, The Odyssey, and the Old Testament.
Jojo in the real world, Given and Richie as ghosts were so perfectly written; it broke my heart open to read chapters with their voices and experiences and then look up from my book and see my own 11-year-old son, right there in between little-boy and young-man. Leonie and Mam were also just gorgeously developed characters, representing the spectrum of motherhood and maternal love. I could get lost in this author's writing -- impossible for me to describe the combination of lyricism with simplicity, appropriate to the Mississippi setting.
Jojo in the real world, Given and Richie as ghosts were so perfectly written; it broke my heart open to read chapters with their voices and experiences and then look up from my book and see my own 11-year-old son, right there in between little-boy and young-man. Leonie and Mam were also just gorgeously developed characters, representing the spectrum of motherhood and maternal love. I could get lost in this author's writing -- impossible for me to describe the combination of lyricism with simplicity, appropriate to the Mississippi setting.
dark
emotional
sad
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
3.75 stars
I'm having a hard time formulating a real review on this one, so I guess I'll just go with a little stream of consciousness. I loved the writing; Jesmyn Ward is a terrific writer and her prose is deep and meaningful. I didn't love the story as much, and I also didn't fully understand many of the choices she made in that regard. The road trip plot seemed underdeveloped, and the supernatural aspect was a little too loose for my liking. From a social justice angle, this book is incredibly sad and raw, but important. It's a difficult read as there's almost nothing happy or really hopeful about it, but I think Ward got her message across. Don't read this book if you can't handle being sad for 285 pages.
*I will also say that I think my rating is a victim of all the hype this book got, as well as my anticipation (it'd been on top of my TBR for several months until I was finally ready for something heavier).
I'm having a hard time formulating a real review on this one, so I guess I'll just go with a little stream of consciousness. I loved the writing; Jesmyn Ward is a terrific writer and her prose is deep and meaningful. I didn't love the story as much, and I also didn't fully understand many of the choices she made in that regard. The road trip plot seemed underdeveloped, and the supernatural aspect was a little too loose for my liking. From a social justice angle, this book is incredibly sad and raw, but important. It's a difficult read as there's almost nothing happy or really hopeful about it, but I think Ward got her message across. Don't read this book if you can't handle being sad for 285 pages.
*I will also say that I think my rating is a victim of all the hype this book got, as well as my anticipation (it'd been on top of my TBR for several months until I was finally ready for something heavier).
Ward’s writing is incredibly fluid and creates such an honest sense of mystery, family relationships, the woods, and things unknown, that it is impossible to break from the story. Unsettling at points, this story is shored up by moments of warmth and affection between Kayla, JoJo, Pop, and Mam. The book is carried by these characters who become beacons of hope in a torrid landscape, constantly having to rise up out of the swamp created by those who were meant to care for them.
4.5 A must-read. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
I can appreciate that this book is well written, but it's just not my cup of tea. Dark, gritty, and unsettling, the book doesn't end with any sense of redemption or hope. The setting is moody and vivid, but the author seems to get too caught up in minor details that the overarching plot gets lost. (Much of the book takes place in a car, and there is so.much.vomit.) Yet the grandmother's cancer, which takes center stage at the end of the book, is only randomly mentioned here and there through the first 2/3 of the book. The fantastical element fit the setting, but wasn't explained very well.