Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

35 reviews

baghaii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Alcohol

Minor: Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, and Rape

alpettit's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

This book was just okay, for a few reasons. First, the editing could have been better. There were some word choices that were inconsistent. The most jarring example is using the words “torch” and “flashlight” interchangeably. Second, I didn’t find Byron interesting or well developed. He was clearly an angry person and career driven, but his connection to the sea and his mother wasn’t entirely believable. Additionally I felt his story arc was haphazardly closed at the end when it wasn’t critical to the story. Same for Mathilda. No one needed to know what happened to her because the story was about Covey and her children, not Covey and her mom. I don’t under understand why the author chose to close Byron’s career loop and not Bennys (she’s still struggling). That brings me to my third point: the ending just fizzled. Unnecessary information/meetings (with Lin and his background on getting rich), no real emotion, and unpolished writing. Almost as if the author realized the book was about to border on long for this type of story and they wanted to wrap up. I might still watch the Hulu series. Maybe they’ll do a better job of showing the familial connections than the author did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Rape

saramoser's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I was fully engrossed in the characters lives and wanted more story. While heartbreaking at some points, and more than hopeful at others, this story was a rollercoaster of emotions. While fictional, it felt as if these characters were real, and I’m sure their experiences while fictional, were close to those of real people’, and the story felt so real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Death

jennabeck13's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

About 380 pages

Eleanor Bennett’s family has been in shambles for years. Eleanor and her son, Byron, haven’t seen her daughter, Benny, in years. Including at her husband’s funeral…. So when Eleanor is determining her final wishes and her will, her biggest priority is to get her children back together. But when Byron and Benny are called by Eleanor’s lawyer, they get the last two things they would have expected, their mother’s signature black cake and a recording detailing family secrets. These family secrets completely re-write the past and leave the family reeling. 

Contemporary fiction has become one of my favorite genres over the past year! I think whether I like them is heavily influenced by my ability to connect and empathize with the characters. Charmaine made that quite easy in this book. I loved all of the characters and the complexities of their stories. I think she did a terrific job of meshing the past and present timelines. And everything was beautifully woven together by the end. The pace was a little slow for me, but that is my only complaint! 

Favorite Quote: “The beauty of a thing justified its plunder. And nothing was more beautiful than a girl who was fearless.”

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Classism, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Racism, Suicide, Death, Cultural appropriation, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

annamay1021's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Police brutality, and Alcohol

Moderate: Terminal illness and Rape

falltumn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Biphobia, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

moniipeters's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I truly enjoyed this book and found that I liked it more and more as the story evolved. The book is told from multiple points of view and in differing timelines, written in very short chapters that are brief vignettes of what happened at particularly critical times in the life of the many primary characters.

The story opens by introducing one of the mysteries that drives the narrative of the story, set in 1965 with Johnny "Lin" Lyncook discovering that his daughter, Coventina, has disappeared suddenly from her wedding venue. The story then moves to current day where two estranged siblings, Byron and Benny, have come together following the death of their mother, Eleanor Bennett. The recorded message their mother leaves for them will take Byron and Benny on a path of revealing a familial history their mother, and father, chose not to share with them when they were still alive.

The three of them sit there silently for a moment, thinking of small but profound inheritances. Of how untold stories shape people's lives, both when they are withheld and when they are revealed.

I found this story to be that much richer because of the large cast of characters and how they added personality and intrigue to the story. Especially because of the short chapters, I enjoyed how jumping back and forth among various timelines was easy enough to follow and made the story move at a pretty brisk pace. Though a little bit of a slow burn at the beginning, I was pulled into the story as a variety of little mysteries unraveled throughout the book via the revelations shared on Eleanor Bennett's recorded message, and then via Byron and Benny's research into their mother's life story.

The atmosphere captured in the book was intoxicating when describing coastal life set in the mid-20th century life in what was then known as the West Indies. Most of the narrators in the book are colorful and vibrant women who represent a zest for life, love of family, and the enduring bond of sisterhood. The power of ancestry and culture is also a running theme, with the art of making the black cake a tangible example of how people associate with traditions and our lives can be a beautiful recipe of many influences, such as our family and the foods shared or used as a form of celebration.

I very much liked the conclusion of the story and how things wrapped up for those still surviving, having been brought together both through shared and found family. The physical and digital editions of the book contain an Author's Note, a Book Club Guide that includes a Letter from the Author, and finally, "Eleanor's Black Cake Recipe." Having these extras really elevates the reading experience for me... and I'm tempted to try out that black cake recipe some day!

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrators, Lynnette R. Freeman and Simone Mcintyre, did a fantastic job infusing all the characters with personality and emotion.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Colonisation, Death of parent, Racism, and Classism

Minor: Death, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship

rlinnyc's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Murder, Rape, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse