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nicolaparty's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Animal cruelty
kelly_e's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Title: If I Survive You
Author: Jonathan Escoffery
Genre: Short Stories
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: September 6, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Episodic • Meandering • Relevant
📖 S Y N O P S I S
In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But America, as the couple and their two children learn, is far from the promised land. Excluded from society as Black immigrants, the family pushes on first through Hurricane Andrew and later the 2008 recession, living in a house so cursed that the pet fish launches itself out of its own tank rather than stay. But even as things fall apart, the family remains motivated.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I chose to read If I Survive You when I needed a book to fit the prompt '2023 Booker longlist nominee' for a yearlong reading challenge I am participating in. I went in completely blind, having not even read the synopsis. that this is a collection of interconnected stories.
This started off incredibly strong, but I found the change in voice and disjointed timeline an odd choice. Not knowing this was a collection of interconnected stories ahead of time really impacted my enjoyment. Around the midway points my attention wavered as there was just so much going on. It seemed like the narrative was all over the place, rather than reading like a unified collection. In the first chapter, I really got a good introduction to Trelawny, yet his character development isn't fully flushed out because the following stories shift to other family members. Additionally, there's a lot of repetition throughout the stories, which made the reading experience redundant.
Touching on themes of race and identity, I believe If I Survive You to be an authentic depiction of the immigrant experience. I don't necessarily think I am the intended audience, but my failure to be fully invested in the narrative from start to finish meant I struggled with the flow. The writing itself was impressive. It's quite possible I'd have enjoyed this more if I'd been aware it was a collection of stories ahead of time.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Booker devotees
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"It occurs to you that people like you—people who burn themselves up in pursuit of survival—rarely survive anyone or anything."
Author: Jonathan Escoffery
Genre: Short Stories
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: September 6, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Episodic • Meandering • Relevant
📖 S Y N O P S I S
In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But America, as the couple and their two children learn, is far from the promised land. Excluded from society as Black immigrants, the family pushes on first through Hurricane Andrew and later the 2008 recession, living in a house so cursed that the pet fish launches itself out of its own tank rather than stay. But even as things fall apart, the family remains motivated.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I chose to read If I Survive You when I needed a book to fit the prompt '2023 Booker longlist nominee' for a yearlong reading challenge I am participating in. I went in completely blind, having not even read the synopsis. that this is a collection of interconnected stories.
This started off incredibly strong, but I found the change in voice and disjointed timeline an odd choice. Not knowing this was a collection of interconnected stories ahead of time really impacted my enjoyment. Around the midway points my attention wavered as there was just so much going on. It seemed like the narrative was all over the place, rather than reading like a unified collection. In the first chapter, I really got a good introduction to Trelawny, yet his character development isn't fully flushed out because the following stories shift to other family members. Additionally, there's a lot of repetition throughout the stories, which made the reading experience redundant.
Touching on themes of race and identity, I believe If I Survive You to be an authentic depiction of the immigrant experience. I don't necessarily think I am the intended audience, but my failure to be fully invested in the narrative from start to finish meant I struggled with the flow. The writing itself was impressive. It's quite possible I'd have enjoyed this more if I'd been aware it was a collection of stories ahead of time.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Booker devotees
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"It occurs to you that people like you—people who burn themselves up in pursuit of survival—rarely survive anyone or anything."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Sexual content, Classism, and Body shaming
Minor: Cursing, Suicide, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Death
ukponge's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Infidelity, Racism, and Xenophobia
deedireads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
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
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
If I Survive You is a strong, compelling collection of connected stories about a family of Jamaican men living in Miami. I enjoyed it quite a lot.
For you if: You like very connected short stories that could almost be called a novel.
FULL REVIEW:
If I Survive You is a buzzy debut story collection that got longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction. I’m writing this before the finalists are announced, but I gotta say, it feels like a strong contender.
This set of linked stories gives us a glimpse into the lives of the men of one Jamaican family living in Miami, particularly the younger son, Trelawny. He’s the protagonist of most of the stories, although we also get to hear from his father, his brother, and even a cousin. Trelawny is the only one who was born in the US and struggles with feeling like an outsider in every aspect of his life, including his family; the opening story, “In Flux,” sets this stage perfectly.
I do love linked stories, and these are very linked. In fact, seeing as they got away with calling How High We Go in the Dark and Disappearing Earth novels, I think this one could have snuck over that border, too. We get the stories near-linearly, following Trelawny and his family from his childhood, through Hurricane Andrew, into the Great Recession, and beyond. We come to know them, feel for them, understand their shortcomings, and hope for their futures. (In fact, the amount of time we spend with the same few characters could also give those who feel like they “always want more” from short stories the satisfaction they’re looking for.)
This is such a strong debut collection; it’s deeply heartfelt and compelling, looking at all the in-between places of race and heritage and belonging and family and survival. It’s a love letter to Jamaican families and immigrants living in Miami, and it speaks to our current moment and the last few decades alike.
TL;DR REVIEW:
If I Survive You is a strong, compelling collection of connected stories about a family of Jamaican men living in Miami. I enjoyed it quite a lot.
For you if: You like very connected short stories that could almost be called a novel.
FULL REVIEW:
If I Survive You is a buzzy debut story collection that got longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction. I’m writing this before the finalists are announced, but I gotta say, it feels like a strong contender.
This set of linked stories gives us a glimpse into the lives of the men of one Jamaican family living in Miami, particularly the younger son, Trelawny. He’s the protagonist of most of the stories, although we also get to hear from his father, his brother, and even a cousin. Trelawny is the only one who was born in the US and struggles with feeling like an outsider in every aspect of his life, including his family; the opening story, “In Flux,” sets this stage perfectly.
I do love linked stories, and these are very linked. In fact, seeing as they got away with calling How High We Go in the Dark and Disappearing Earth novels, I think this one could have snuck over that border, too. We get the stories near-linearly, following Trelawny and his family from his childhood, through Hurricane Andrew, into the Great Recession, and beyond. We come to know them, feel for them, understand their shortcomings, and hope for their futures. (In fact, the amount of time we spend with the same few characters could also give those who feel like they “always want more” from short stories the satisfaction they’re looking for.)
This is such a strong debut collection; it’s deeply heartfelt and compelling, looking at all the in-between places of race and heritage and belonging and family and survival. It’s a love letter to Jamaican families and immigrants living in Miami, and it speaks to our current moment and the last few decades alike.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
2treads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
'If only you chose home.' ‐ Sanya
Escoffery's stories are smart, realized, and stunning. They are at their core stories for so many Jamaican families, mired in colourism and classism(racism), fidelity, freedom of self, and self-actualization. Steeped in obvious experiences, each story traces the movement of this not-Black but maybe-Black family in a country where everyone is labelled.
Trelawny acts as the locus for this novel, born to Jamaican parents who yearn for the island they were able to flee when violence erupts, he struggles to cement himself within a cultural structure that seems determined to pigeonhole him.
Escoffery explores the many ways in which power dynamics exist and shift between members and within the family structure, how acceptance and identity can affect self-worth and self-actualization and determine the very ways we move through relationships.
'But answers in the mouths of the untrustworthy are worthless.' ‐ Trelawny
Escoffery's stories are smart, realized, and stunning. They are at their core stories for so many Jamaican families, mired in colourism and classism(racism), fidelity, freedom of self, and self-actualization. Steeped in obvious experiences, each story traces the movement of this not-Black but maybe-Black family in a country where everyone is labelled.
Trelawny acts as the locus for this novel, born to Jamaican parents who yearn for the island they were able to flee when violence erupts, he struggles to cement himself within a cultural structure that seems determined to pigeonhole him.
Escoffery explores the many ways in which power dynamics exist and shift between members and within the family structure, how acceptance and identity can affect self-worth and self-actualization and determine the very ways we move through relationships.
'But answers in the mouths of the untrustworthy are worthless.' ‐ Trelawny
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Classism, Abandonment, Trafficking, and Racism
Minor: Murder and Child death
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