Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Prophets

How do you even review this book? This not something I normally read and probably wouldn’t have if not for it being chosen as this month’s book club pick. The story was beautiful yet heart-wrenching as it tells the tale of two gay slaves who fell in love and how that love is viewed changes in their community as some of the slaves find Jesus. This book is a sucker punch to the gut at times and hard to read and beautiful in others. It is a necessary one that needs to be told.

I’m a little in awe of how the author could write such a cohesive story from so many POVs and a non-linear timeline that it sucks you in even as you read slowly in order to digest and sometimes savor what has been written. The central romance was beautiful and makes my heart sore. I quickly fell in love with Samuel and Isaiah and with every page I read, I was fervently hoping that their love and relationship would survive everything and remain whole.

My favorite character of the whole book was Maggie and her view of the world and her knowledge of her peoples’ past was intriguing. I also really enjoyed the parts of the story told from the view of the African king and getting to see parts of that village’s culture before everything goes pear-shaped.

This book has left a dent in my heart and is a story that I’m going to be thinking about for a long time to come.

Content Warnings

sqmadden's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Content Warnings

cait's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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

Men and toubab shared far more than either would ever admit. Just ask anyone who had ever been at their mercy. They both took what they wanted; asking was never a courtesy. Both smiled first, but pain always followed.

The Prophets is a novel that takes some time to get into. As with many books about slavery, it is a distressing and uncomfortable read. We follow the occupants of a cotton plantation known as Empty as desperation leads one man to Christ and the rest to destruction. Wanting nothing more than to have his sort-of wife be excused from the forced inseminations, Amos decides to appease the plantation owner by turning to Christianity and spreading it amongst the other slaves, grasping particularly onto the "sins" he perceives are being committed by Isaiah and Samuel in the privacy of their barn. Though the duo is known for their hard work and kind natures, being the only men in Empty who don't participate in the forced rape of slave women at their master's command, it isn't long before the members of the community turn on them, just so they can have someone to look down upon.

This is a difficult story to put into words. It is equal parts fascinating and horrifying, beautiful and hideous. The way it delves into generational trauma and blood memory is fascinating. Jones did such an incredible job of fleshing out these characters within their limited amount of designated pages and completing the story so that it circles back in on itself. This is the sort of novel that makes you really think. I've heard it's the kind of story that, if you explore it a second time, you discover was deeper and more detailed than you originally imagined.

But, while this is a story of race and racism, I think that it is also a story of power and misogyny. Like the steps of a ladder: White over black and men over women. As you go down the rungs of the ladder, though, who has the least amount of power: Black women ... or black men who do not obey the "rules" of manhood? And why and by who was it decided that the thing that made these two boys lesser was the fact that they alone never laid a single hand upon anyone unwilling to be touched?

Content Warnings

ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

I can see why Jones has been compared to Toni Morrison. His writing has a similar lyrical quality and like Morrison, there’s a lot of depth beyond the words on the page. Like Beloved, there is a vague otherworldly feeling in The Prophets. The story is real and painful, but there’s a feeling of magic to it as well. But comparisons aside, Jones’ voice is solidly his own. And he has a lot to say (give him a follow @thesonofbaldwin for proof).

It took me a long time to get through this book. Not because I wasn’t invested, but rather because it isn’t one that can be read casually. I couldn’t pick it up after a long stressful day, because I was unable to give it the attention it required. Jones’ writing is dense and complex and requires focus.

This is a tough read. Jones doesn’t shy away from the brutality of slavery. He inspects the generational trauma of the slave trade and colonialism. But he also does something quite lovely. He puts forth a depiction of queerness that is the so natural, so pure, that it feels impossible that we should ever have thought queerness wrong or different.

While the narrative builds slowly, by the final third of the book I couldn’t put it down.

Content Warnings