chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

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hopeful 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

3.75


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livinthebubble's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

I always feel bad rating an important book like this a low rating but I just didn't like it. So many other people said they loved this and sobbed and I'm sad I didn't experience the same thing as them.

Important Read

This book talks about poverty, racism, the hardships that come with being a woman, and the assault of minors, among other important topics. It was tough to read at times, with the graphic scenes here and there, though I still appreciate this being written and having read it.

Ending

Most of the book was just ok to me, although I enjoyed one of the scenes at the end, where the main group write messages on the trees. I thought it was a lovely scene and the messages were uplifting after a dark book.

Magical Realism

I think this is another case of "it's not you, it's me" and me not properly reading what books are about before reading/buying them. I dislike most books with magical realism, and I didn't realize that this was a magical realism book.

Confusing

The wizard stuff was just confusing to me, and the time jumps/scene jumps connected by dashes were so weird and just didn't work for me.

Overall, this just wasn't for me and I'm really sad that I didn't like it as much as everyone else. 

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amberinbookland's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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eff_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

thinks i disliked:
- the concept of echo being a wizard (the magic system and the idea wasn’t fully executed
- a lot of ideas and things mentioned in the story did not add to the plot line and felt very watered down. other goodreads reviews does a good job at explaining it so i would direct you to @BangBangBooks review on goodreads
- it often felt confusing at times and it was hard to keep up

things i liked:
- that it was an own voices novel
- the narration done by the author. i highly recommend the audiobook 
- the bravery it takes to share a story like this
- the discussions of how often Black women are left out in the community by Black men
- discussions on rape culture and how it can be perpetuated by the Black community

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renee_reads_books's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative 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

There's a lot going on in this book and it sometimes feels chaotic for that reason, but I didn't mind that. I think that actually played into what the book is representing, which is, to me, that black girls and women are wizards, performing acts of magic to help them survive in a world that is against them. Of course, they aren't *really* wizards, but the elements of magical realism help to show how they cope with all the unfair and cruel cards they're dealt. 

Echo grows up in a poor black community in which her stepfather is frequently drunk and her mother is always strung out on "the white rocks" (crack cocaine). Echo works to overcome the odds that are stacked against her: the disadvantage, the addiction, the access to quality education, the sexual abuse -- all things that affect black communities more than white people often feel comfortable acknowledging -- and she thrives. 

I'm certain there are own-voices reviews of this book that are more useful than my review here, and I encourage you to read them. I found this book to be very moving and also thought-provoking because it isn't often that the focus is placed on black women in society (what I mean is, even though it's something we hear about, it's not something I've often seen in books). This had me learning a lot more about all the ways that systemic racism exists and all of the hardships people endure because of it. As a former teacher, I was particularly interested in the education angle and how Echo was able to piece her education together, as well as how she saw school as her safe space. 

This book was really well done and I'm surprised that I haven't seen more people talking about it. 

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