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feeohnaemily's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Excrement, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Rape, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Child death
amyvl93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It is clear that Evaristo had a lot of fun playing with places, geographies and what a world steeped in black culture for hundreds of years would look like, in comparison to one dominated by white culture. There's some interesting reflections in particular on beauty standards and relationships - however, after a while these start getting a little grating. Whilst the sense of place of individual locations is strong, the narrative also feels at times unmoored from a sense of time - is this taking place now, in the past, somewhere in between?
What does makes this book readable still is Evaristo's impactful writing; her reinterpretation of the middle passage is excellent, as are scenes later on in the novel where Doris really starts to feel the horrors of her situation.
I'm not necessarily sure I would recommend Blonde Roots as a place to start with Evaristo's work, but for completists it's probably worth a read.
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
mog261's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Grief, Torture, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol
alexreadsall'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
⠀
This book explores the idea of power and what absolute power can do. Blonde Roots asks the question ‘what would have happened if the African peoples had come to enslave white Europeans instead?’ And what an exploration it was.
⠀
I don’t really know how to talk about this book. In a lot of weird ways I loved it because of Bernadine Evaristo’s pure writing ability. She has such a way with words and characters that it’s hard not to love what she writes. But it wasn’t an easy read in a lot of different ways. The horrors that happen to the whyte slaves inflicted by their blak masters are graphic and she just lays it all out without apology.
⠀
I have to admit I had a hard time remembering that our main character was whyte. I had to consciously remind myself that this was a fictional made up history and that everything was flipped. Which might have been part of Evaristo’s point. That absolute power over others will eventually and always lead to the same horrific results. Regardless of race.
⠀
I’m not a scholar, I’m not even a college graduate so I’m not sure if I have the language to talk about this book. But it made an impact and I think that what Evaristo did was incredible. It didn’t change how I feel about history and it didn’t give me sympathy for white people but it did help me to explore how power works.
⠀
Here’s the deal I will read anything that Bernadine Evaristo has written or will write. I’m glad I read it because it’s such a unique idea, taking a race of people who historically have always had the power and taken whatever they wanted and taking that power away from them in the most horrible way possible. It’s clever and at times darkly funny and the way she takes every aspect of that awful time in history and made it about whytes was brilliant.
⠀
I guess all of this is to say I liked the book with caveats. And I would love more people to read it so I can chat with others about it. If you have read it please let me know so we can chat!!
Graphic: Rape, Violence, and Racism
zoebill96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Child death, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Death, Torture, and War
laurataylor'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? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Slavery, Racial slurs, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Self harm, Racism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Trafficking
rhianonw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Slavery, and Torture
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Confinement, Rape, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Vomit
yaelm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
שימו לב שיש טריגרים רבים - כל סוגי האלימות
Graphic: Kidnapping, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Racism, Sexual violence, and Trafficking
amberinbookland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Trafficking, Slavery, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Excrement, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Murder, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Child death, Cannibalism, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
helendipietro's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Slavery, Rape, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Violence, and Colonisation