Take a photo of a barcode or cover
siobhanward's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
NYT Notable Books 2019: 52/100
I wish this book had been longer. I rarely say that about books, but in this case, it felt like there were so many plots and none of them got enough attention: Josephine and Charlotte, Josephine's past, Ava and her grandma, Ava's mother. It felt like just as things were ramping up and things were starting to come together, everything ended and that was it. It was a solid plot and I loved the characters, but it felt like all this tension was created and then it ended abruptly without anything being resolved. I know that not everything ends happily, but some resolution would have been nice.
I wish this book had been longer. I rarely say that about books, but in this case, it felt like there were so many plots and none of them got enough attention: Josephine and Charlotte, Josephine's past, Ava and her grandma, Ava's mother. It felt like just as things were ramping up and things were starting to come together, everything ended and that was it. It was a solid plot and I loved the characters, but it felt like all this tension was created and then it ended abruptly without anything being resolved. I know that not everything ends happily, but some resolution would have been nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Child death and Pregnancy
bt_wannabe's review
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
A mix of historical fiction and contemporary fiction with some supernatural elements, this story weaves together the stories of multiple generations; highlighting the impact of both generational trauma and strength. The use of multiple POVs was an effective tool in telling this story. While I do think there are characters and storylines that could’ve been fleshed out a bit better to make this read more rich and satisfying, I also feel that some connections were intentionally not explicitly laid out in order to make the reader think and reflect. Overall, it’s definitely worth your time and will leave you thinking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Infertility and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage
smalika's review
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Dementia, and Murder
javafenn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.5
It took me a few days to write a review because this book was very emotional and I needed to clarify my thoughts. The story is told from 3 different timelines involving 2 different women basically sewing together how the past affects the future generations. The realities of slavery and post slavery was tough but the horrors of slavery and all the racism that followed are real and tough. The story itself was amazing. I enjoyed the magical aspect of it and I really loved how strong Josephine and Ava truly were despite not exactly knowing it at first. Both had sons that were facing a scary world for Black men and both had passions for healing. At the end of the book Josephine suffers a horrific and graphic loss shortly after gaining a new grandchild. I needed a few minutes to continue on from that point because there wasn’t much left in the book. I was shattered when it happened. I almost felt it was unnecessary but things like that happened and I’m not one to say how racism against Black people should be displayed in a book written by a Black person. That combined with the fact that the story got a bit confusing around 2/3 of the way through is why this is 3.5 stars. It’s definitely a good book and the narrators are great but it is heavy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcohol and Classism
znvisser's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It took me a while to get up to speed with the three different timelines and all the people in those, I would say I was already a third in by the time that happened. After that, I enjoyed most of the story, even though the characters were sometimes a bit grumpy and judgy towards others without it being properly shown why. And that obviously doesn't refer to Josephines wariness towards white people, but for example, it did apply to Ava towards her mother. This could have been interesting, were it properly explored, but unfortunately it wasn't. The ending tempered my positive feelings for the story that had actually started to grow: two of the stories came to a climax that seemed only included in order to shock the reader, since it wrapped up immediately and lacked any reflection on those events. And the third story extinguished by focusing on the wrong things. Therefore, I didn't feel the reader was given any closure for the story and its characters. So all in all, an ok read, but for me there were too many things off for it to be more than that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Slavery
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Dementia, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage
franklybookish's review
challenging
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Murder