Reviews with content warning for Slavery - When the Reckoning Comes

I want to start by saying I really enjoyed this. However, I actually think it was too short. There were quite a few character development parts that I felt were rushed and/or came up very suddenly which was quite jarring. I think I'd have like for those parts to be expanded more naturally.

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laurpal74's review

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3.5

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iuribe's review

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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nebulouswitch's review

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a heavy read for me- nothing can be scarier than what humanity has done to each other over the centuries. While the book was tense and even a bit scary at times, I also couldn’t help feeling so sad because even though the story is fiction, the atrocities that happened to enslaved people were real. It did take me a bit to get though, but I enjoyed the story and would read this author again.

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yennsciri's review against another edition

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2.0

I started writing a full, long review but I felt like I just started ranting and was no longer coherent. I do not believe this book is well-written, nor do I think it does its subject a service. I don't think it's harmful per se, but it feels like a first draft and it's frustrating to read. Inconsistencies in tone, characters that are either caricatures or barely fleshed out at all, a romantic subplot that just pissed me off in how meaningless it felt, and horrible pacing all made this book infuriating.

What's worse is there are moments where I see good shine through. Specifically, whenever we are not following Mira. But when we're with her (which is 90% of the book), this book feels like very little. I'm disappointed :( I thought this would be so much more than it is.

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bookishwitherin's review

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was an uncomfortable but important read. The author did a great job setting the atmosphere and that yucky feeling in your gut as you are reading it. I felt angry, frustrated, sick, sad & so many other range of emotions. As a white person who grew up in the NE, I always wondered why these celebrities and white people get married at plantations. I so want them to read this book and see exactly how messed up it is that they would want their wedding day at a place that was a dark time during our history. The horrors that were felt made my stomach churn.

The only thing I wished that happened was that the ending was a bit different. I was hoping for more revenge.

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christine_d11's review

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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mmguinane's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I never really read any sort of mystery/thriller/horror (90% of what I read is romance) as I am very easily startled or scared, but I am glad that I read this one. This was wonderfully written, and though the beginning is a bit slow-paced, I found myself unable to put it down once I read further. LaTanya McQueen created a sense of foreboding right from the start that carried throughout the book, and I hope to read more from her soon.

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