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3littlewordz's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It can be challenging to capture humanity in massacre and devastation. It can sometimes come across as macabre… too focused on the gore. Edwidge Danticat masterfully captured beauty, pain, violence, and death within a massacre in The Farming of Bones. She didn’t shy away from descriptions of violence, nor did she seem to glorify the brutality that was inflicted upon the Haitian population targeted in the 1937 Parsley Massacre. Danticat also movingly explored ache: the ache of the loss of parents and children, the ache of poverty, and the ache of dreams deferred and never realized. Through Amabelle’s eyes, we see the dichotomy between the Haves and Have Nots; those in power and those subjugated. Though this is a work of fiction, I learned so much about the Trujillo regime that I knew nothing about prior to reading this novel. In fact, I never knew that the US occupied Haiti for several decades! The Yanki occupation was also mentioned in this work, which sent me down another rabbit hole of research. This is a heavy heavy book, but I highly recommend. Another great novel about the Trujillo dictatorship is In The Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. Between these two novels, I’ve gained a much better understanding of that time period in history.
Graphic: Torture, Grief, Racism, Death, Xenophobia, War, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent and Child death
mscalls's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Pregnancy
strangeeigenfunction's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
I don't think I can rate this book because it's a devastating portrayal of a traumatic historical event. It's very good on a literary level, as I expect from Danticat, and I do recommend it, but understand that it's about a very heavy topic, heed the content warnings, and ideally make sure you can seek out post reading comfort.
The first third or so of the book is happier and on a more even emotional keel, and yet there are four mundane deaths in it
(I recommend reading this spoiler to prepare if you have difficulty with the more specific deaths mentioned in the content warnings:)the main character's parents drown, a worker is run down by a car hurrying on a celebratory errand, a baby who is only a few days old stops breathing
that in many other stories could suffice for tragedy. The last third—emotionally if perhaps not in page count—is a portrait of trauma in the aftermath of the violent middle. (this perhaps most influences my rating of lovable characters, but it is less that I dislike or cannot love Amabelle and more that trauma and intense grief can make people harder to love due to the damage to their emotional wellbeing.)
The first third or so of the book is happier and on a more even emotional keel, and yet there are four mundane deaths in it
(I recommend reading this spoiler to prepare if you have difficulty with the more specific deaths mentioned in the content warnings:)
that in many other stories could suffice for tragedy. The last third—emotionally if perhaps not in page count—is a portrait of trauma in the aftermath of the violent middle. (this perhaps most influences my rating of lovable characters, but it is less that I dislike or cannot love Amabelle and more that trauma and intense grief can make people harder to love due to the damage to their emotional wellbeing.)
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Genocide, Hate crime, Child death, Death, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Torture
bookishcori's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Genocide
Moderate: Torture and Confinement
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