Reviews with content warning for Rape - River Sing Me Home

This book made me cry and cry and cry. It was such a beautiful testament to the resilience of humans in the face of evil and the lengths a mother will go to for her children.

Content Warnings

greatlibraryofalexandra's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I valued this story a lot. The books about slavery I read are usually focused on the US, so it was good to expand my horizons here and read about the Caribbean. The writing was truly beautiful, quiet and painful. It reminded me of "Homegoing" (Gyasi) and "Roots" (Haley), though I will say I enjoyed both of those books more. I loved Rachel's determination, her journey, and her reflections on suffering one chooses and how it emboldens you, versus the suffering one is subjected to and how it wears you down. I also really valued the examination of what "freedom" really means, in both a legal sense and a larger, more ideological sense. I think we're still examining this question every day.

It feels very wrong to call a book this full of trauma and suffering "serendipitous," but to me it was at least a bit too serendipitous in that Rachel was able to either find out find out what happened to all of her children, despite hopping between islands of thousands of people. It relied a little too much on convenience and while I don't think it was necessarily a happy story or a happy ending, it was a farfetched to me that she was able to have so much closure - even if it was also a peaceful thing to read.

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d0505's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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bringmybooks's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

This was an astoundingly beautiful debut novel and I can't recommend it highly enough.

✨ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 ✨ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

While not shying away from any of the realities of the history (with the content warnings to match - it's beautiful, but hard to read at times), this novel still manages to uplift your soul with the way it allows you to be a part of Rachel's journey. I'm not a mother myself, but I commend Eleanor Shearer on her ability to make you feel so connected to things that you have never had to experience. Rachel's love for her children, the way she remembers them, the way she yearns for them, the way she feels guilt and love and frustration and joy and deepest heartache; you are intimately involved in these feelings with her and it made the book very strong.

The history of slavery (&especially the Emancipation Act of 1834 and how that affected those enslaved in the Caribbean) was completely unknown to me, and I thought Shearer did a really good job adding a lot of factual information in a way that felt woven throughout the story as opposed to info-dumping it.

I was especially moved with the way water and the rivers played an integral role in the story, and the complicated nature of how Rachel and those around her felt about them.

This was an emotionally resounding novel that will definitely be one I find myself recommending.

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yoadrienne16's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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

5.0

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