Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Night Wherever We Go

The summary misled me but I’m not upset because I still enjoyed the book. A “rebellion” in my mind is an in your face stand against slavers but what these women did were smaller “wins” that allowed them to assert some authority over their own lives. I really appreciated how they were given different backgrounds and beliefs. So often, stories from this era treat all enslaved peoples as if they originated from the same place. My main criticism is that there’s no build up to the ending.

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andlivloves's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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tigger89's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm not going to sugarcoat it: this is a book about slavery, and it doesn't pull its punches. The setting is dark enough on its own, before we even get to the particular events this story centers around. But while these women were forced to suffer indignity, cruelty, and violation, they turned to each other for support and found ways to create connection and joy. Ultimately, I found this to be a story about community, resilience, and defiance. While this still doesn't add up to a particularly uplifting book, those themes shine like a light in the darkness, illuminating a story unlike any fictionalized slave narrative I've come across before.

One of the things I thought was very interesting was how the many different traditions of the women came together when they held their spiritual meetings. It would have been very easy to write them as all-of-a-kind, but the author was determined to depict the variety of women who were enslaved during this time period. In this regard I believe she succeeded in four out of six cases; unfortunately, I found two of the women to be very under-developed, to the point where I knew little of their personalities or desires, aside from a brief sketch of their origins and a quirk or two. She knocked it out of the park for Serah, Patience, Nan, and Junie, though.

Another thing I think she executed very well was the shifting narrative perspective. Occasionally, the novel is narrated in first person plural: we knew this, we did this, we saw that. I noticed many reviewers were confused about this, asking who the first person narrator was. My interpretation is that it was the women narrating collectively before coming to the forefront one-by-one for the traditional third-person narration sections. In addition to the primary women, several other characters get to take turns narrating, showing the reader the perspectives of other enslaved people and shedding some light on why the Lucys might choose the actions they did. None of their actions were excused, but I appreciated being shown the reasons.

As a side note, the Texas Troubles of 1860 was an actual historical event that I'd never heard of before in my life. I don't know if my education failed me or if it's just one of those things that doesn't really get taught outside of Texas. If you're also not familiar, I'd suggest waiting to google it until after you've read the book. Just know that the final part of the book is grounded in real history.

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bookmaddie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.0

This story begins with an act of protection—a group of female slaves on a plantation in Texas meet in secret to figure out how they can protect themselves from a traveling male slave sent to impregnate them. But as days pass, complications mount, and it's evident the women are working to protect each other from something entirely more sinister: their white owners. And amongst all this, each woman in this story is longing for something taken or left behind. This story wonders at how one can form a life—as a slave, a mother, a woman, in a place deeply traumatizing and uncertain.

The narrative slowly moves to focus a bit more on two of the women, Junie and Serah. While I think the focus on the group helps highlight larger themes of this novel, the tightened focus really helps the story become more evocative and immediate. I also really enjoyed learning more about Junie and Serah—it helped me understand their motivations as the story ramps up to its violent crescendo.

This is a really strong debut, and I'll definitely be interested in what Peyton writes next!

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jen_thetelltalebookclub's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

4.0

This book has deep themes. I don't want that to detour anyone from reading the book.

The women in this book faced many difficult things, losing loved ones, abuse/injury/pain, hunger to name a few, but they were so strong. I didn't know the ways the slaves avoided pregnancy and that AA men were loaned or bought for the purpose of breeding with women on the plantation. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read it and learn from it. Even though the content was hard at times, it's important that this part of history is taught and that we seek to know the truth and not the versions others want us to hear. The author did a wonderful job with the climax of the book. I didn't want to put it down.

I read the audio version and Karen Chilton did a phenomenal job. For me, it probably would have been beneficial to have a physical copy while I listened because I had a hard time keeping up with all of the characters voices.

I look forward to more works by Tracey Rose Peyton.

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