Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Black Cake

Title: Black Cake
Author: Charmaine Wilkerson
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: February 1, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Layered • Delectable • Memorable

📖 S Y N O P S I S

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

💭 T H O U G H T S

After a few 'Read with Jenna' misses, I was hesitant to read Black Cake, Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel. With a little urging from some wonderful ladies in my online book club, I decided I must give it a try, and am so glad that I did.

Yes, it took me awhile to settle into the story, but once I was invested, I was all in. There's a touch of mystery to this character driven, multigenerational debut. The writing is precise, the structure is strong, and the characters are well flushed out. There are so many layers to the complex family history that really showcases the messiness that is family.

There are a lot of characters combined with shifting time periods and places, which came across as jumbled at time, and meant I often found myself needing to go back to catch something I'd missed. At other times, it felt slightly repetitive, and certainly longer than it needed to be.

One of my biggest takeaways was reflecting on the role and importance food plays in our lives. Food is one of those cross-culture, non-verbal ways of communicating with and taking care of the ones we love. Of showing we care. Of keeping our history alive. This narrative also showcases how betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, are passed down through the generations, and how it all shapes the past, the present and the future.

Black Cake is a journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch. I was left asking myself how this was a debut novel? Charmaine Wilkerson is a writer to watch and I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers with diverse tastes
• multigenerational saga lovers
• fans of food in books

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Question yourself, yes, but don’t doubt yourself. There’s a difference."

"More people’s lives have been shaped by violence than we like to think. And more people’s lives have been shaped by silence than we think."

"The people who love us the most have the power to hurt us the most too."

Content Warnings

katbrookhart's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

thescenery's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring reflective 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

3.75

I read this with my favourite reading buddy, my soulmate.

It took me the longest time to get used to it. It was confusing at first, and the process of having to get attached to multiple different characters and storylines got a little overwhelming. However, once I understood it all, it was incredible and fun and entertaining. I wish the narrative was different, I could read it all by a point of view only with no worries. And that's the thing that bothered me the most, the book format that I wish was different.

The characters were very well built! Most of them made me very angry, but for a debut, this was really well-written. I loved reading a bit of this culture in action, and it made me really want to try the Black Cake.

The whole atmosphere is a little dense, and to me, this was a slow-paced book that seemed to take forever to finish, and something new was added when you're least expecting it.

I felt like this had similar vibes to Clap When You Land in terms of vibes, but Adult. Overall, it was a good book, and I recommend it, however I'm coming to realise this isn't my kind of book. If I wasn't reading with a friend, I wouldn't be able to finish it alone.

Content Warnings

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