Reviews

An Autobiography of Skin by Lakiesha Carr

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kaamilah28x's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

readswithnatalieb's review against another edition

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3.0

We meet three women within AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SKIN as a separate novella. While I enjoy short stories, this small book needed more! I feel like we didn’t get a lot of time with each character and could’ve easy read each novella as its own book.

Each woman is riddled with trauma and readers learn how each one navigates throughout their lives. All novellas also provide a lot of insight as to what it means to be a Black woman and how each woman is affected differently within society and the time period she’s living in. Each story is powerful and raw, and very, very intimate.

To continue talking about the short stories aspect, I sort of was hoping these would connect a little more. Perhaps I missed something, but I only found the connection to the first and third novella. Did the second connect at all? I’m not sure it did, but the second story really stood out to me. A mother living with postpartum depression while constantly hearing news stories about how the world treats Black boys with her two at home. It was very moving and will forever think about it. It truly gave me chills.

Content warnings: child abuse, racism, death

wilhelmina_reads's review against another edition

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The first story put me into a reading slump. The second story was so beautiful and well written that it got me out of one. The third story said "fuck you" and put me in an even deeper, more intense reading slump. Damn.

madif's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

d0505's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

amgmontavon's review against another edition

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3.0

I really wanted to like this book wholeheartedly: the premise had so much promise. Maybe creating high expectations was the problem.
Nettie’s story begins strongly, but then falls flat. Okay, Maya’s story about motherhood and postpartum depression definitely hits close to home, but then again, the way the author chose to tell it makes the story detached and unemotional. The third and last story that connects all the others, starts in a promising note but then the omniscient narrator becomes first person that…reads minds and fights ghosts? Confusion and lack of coherence turns the book into something unexplainable.
Unfortunately I only finished to be able to review it and not because the storyline gripped me.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.