Reviews

Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

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ljcampbell's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

nenation's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

threegoodrats's review against another edition

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4.0

This work of historical fiction about an enslaved woman is very difficult to read, but if you can get through the first several chapters it gets a little bit easier to take. If it wasn't based on reality, the cruelty would seem over-the-top and just not believable, but unfortunately these situations were all too commonplace. We should be deeply ashamed of this history, but usually we just choose to brush it off as the past and ignore it. Pheby was a great character who felt real, and who was frequently faced with extremely difficult decisions, and she just made the best of a bad situation. The epilogue felt a bit abrupt and I really want to know why she didn't go seek out certain people once she was free, but that's a minor quibble. This novel is excellent.