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tlaynejones's review
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Violence
zombiezami's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
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
4.25
Wow, this was heavy. I watched a few episodes of the TV show, but stopped when I found out there was a book because I wanted to read that first. Now that the show is done, and I'll basically be able to watch it all at once, I'm curious about the changes they made to the book.
The descriptive writing in this was fantastic. The challenges that the characters faced were so gut-wrenching. I liked the thematic content; it felt very Shakesperean. What I didn't like was the ending, and I hope the show doesn't end in the same way.The ending felt like a punishment of Ralph Angel for having a mental illness. For both of the protagonists, I thought, man, can they never catch a break? But the ending wrapped up in an uncomfortably neat way, especially with Hollywood just happening to have the amount of money that Charley needed. Very deus ex machina.
The descriptive writing in this was fantastic. The challenges that the characters faced were so gut-wrenching. I liked the thematic content; it felt very Shakesperean. What I didn't like was the ending, and I hope the show doesn't end in the same way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Racism, Police brutality, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, Alcohol, Death, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Animal death, Racial slurs, Cancer, Medical content, Blood, Addiction, Classism, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Sexism, and Cursing
Minor: Slavery, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, War, and Religious bigotry
Environmental disasterserendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Charley is recently widowed, depressed and not paying attention to her daughter Micah when an inheritance from her father forces her to move from California to Louisiana to take over the running of a sugar plantation. Charley knows nothing about farming sugar cane and as a Black woman she’s not exactly welcomed with open arms in an industry dominated by white men, many of whom are struggling to avoid being taken over by the big corporations. Against the odds she begins to make progress but then there is a hurricane to contend with and the arrival of her half-brother Ralph Angel who is seething with resentment that Charley was given what he thinks is rightfully his.
Obviously the reader is rooting for Charley to overcome the odds, even when she doesn’t always make the best decisions. Race becomes an issue several times - when Charley’s relationship with a white man falters when he makes a racist remark, when Micah notices that Queen Sugar and all her attendants are white, and when Ralph Angel dies - but it is not the main focus of the book. Family disagreements and Charley’s struggles to make a success of the sugar plantation are the central conflicts. The author did evoke a strong sense of place, but included more detail about the process of sugar cane farming than I necessarily cared to know.
I mostly enjoyed reading this book but it didn’t wow me and is unlikely to stick with me.
Obviously the reader is rooting for Charley to overcome the odds, even when she doesn’t always make the best decisions. Race becomes an issue several times - when Charley’s relationship with a white man falters when he makes a racist remark, when Micah notices that Queen Sugar and all her attendants are white, and when Ralph Angel dies - but it is not the main focus of the book. Family disagreements and Charley’s struggles to make a success of the sugar plantation are the central conflicts. The author did evoke a strong sense of place, but included more detail about the process of sugar cane farming than I necessarily cared to know.
I mostly enjoyed reading this book but it didn’t wow me and is unlikely to stick with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Racism
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