Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Silver Sparrow

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

9 reviews

siobhanward's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

This book had a strong premise - one man with two daughters and two wives, but only one set of wife/daughter knew about the other. Jones set herself up for a very strong book here, but unfortunately I found it falling flat at times. Dana's storyline was good, although frustrating at times. It was hard to read about Dana constantly getting things taken away from her in favour of her sister, and I just found myself frustrated with James.

However, I think where things started to weaken was in the second half, which focused on Dana's sister Chaurisse. Chaurisse's story was not nearly as detailed as Dana's and at times it felt like there wasn't a ton of point to the second half of the story. While I appreciated that the climax felt mostly realistic, it also felt like it led to a rushed ending. I wish there had been a bit more of an ending after so much build up. I will give huge kudos to Jones' writing style - it really resonated with me, and I would definitely like to read more from her in the future.

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saskiahill's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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lindsayerin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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mirrie's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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seawarrior's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

In many ways, Silver Sparrow is a very unsettling novel. Yet it is also a fierce, heart-wrenching love story of a family told from the perspective of their youngest generation. Jones made me fall in love with the Yarboro and Witherspoon families, despite their many flaws and the knowledge that the existence of one of James' families would always threaten the other. Jones' prose was wise and biting, and her characterization was inspiringly precise. Every page in this book holds profound meaning for the people involved, and each scene that moved along the timeline of Dana and Chaurisse's lives was never without the higher purpose of showing us who these young women were growing into. The decision to switch between the girls' perspectives midway through the book was jarring at first, but eventually made the story even more poignant, as it was impossible for me to dislike Dana, Chaurisse, or their mothers. It was even difficult to not empathize with James or Raleigh. By the end of the book I felt devastated that these shared families could not forgive each other and find unity, but as Dana says, "some things were inevitable. You’d have to be a fool to think otherwise".

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amykuc's review

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I was looking for a book on extended families for a reading challenge and found this one on a list. Silver Sparrow takes an entirely different perspective of extended families. The novel begins with the sentence, “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist. “ The novel shares the perspective of two sisters who share the same father, one daughter who knows of the other, and one who has no knowledge of the other until her teen years.
This was definitely not a “feel-good” book, but thought provoking. It would seem easy to decide if ho was the villain, but Jones creates characters with such thought and care that there is no easy answer.

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brdoyle08's review

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emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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ktdakotareads's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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sarah984's review

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emotional tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"People say, that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But they are wrong. What doesn’t kill you, doesn’t kill you. That’s all you get. Sometimes, you just have to hope that’s enough."

This is a beautifully written book about how easily children can internalize things adults say off-handedly and then forget, and about living in the shadow of someone who doesn't even know that you exist. Both protagonists have strong voices, and the characters around them feel real. This book is a slow-motion car crash you can't look away from.

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