Reviews

Initially I thought I really liked this: funny, clever lines and a crazy premise about wife attempting to murder husband over and over, and both of them sort of just accepting this as their normal relationship. But by the end, the novel rambled around too much and I was losing interest.

aya1081's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

minty's review against another edition

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2.0

I'm honestly not sure what I even thought of this book, and it was over before I felt like I could really get into the groove with it!

passionyoungwrites's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Imma be honest.. Y’all know Gayl Jones has a crazy writing style - and honestly it’s something that you have to get use to. It’s like she tells the story in so many small pieces that you really have to finish it to actually figure out the entire plot.

🦅

Here goes:

Told in 1st person from the POV of a writer named Amanda. The Birdcatcher is mainly about a black couple - Catherine (a sculptor) and her husband Ernest. Amanda and Catherine are best friends - and Amanda always seems to find herself with the couple for long periods of time. Especially since Catherine is always trying to kill her husband. After the attempts, Earnest commits her and after a period of time goes by he gets her out. Only for her to try it again. 😮‍💨

Now that’s not the craziest part. The craziest part is that Amanda seems to be interested in the chaos, all trying to avoid her own problems - like her husband and daughter she up and left. And for many men she dates while away.

After reading this story, I realized a few things. First, we see the relationship between black women, the complexities of friendship, loyalty or the lack thereof, mental health, and parenting choices.

🦅

So I thought about the title of the book. And Amanda asking Earnest if he called her a “pilgrim”. He replied, “I called you ‘peregrine’. Do you know what a peregrine is?” Amanda replied, “yes. It’s one of those birds that never stays in one place.” My thoughts were, she’s the bird and they’re the Birdcatcher.. 🫨

🦅

Gayl Jones really shaped a world here where you see the complexities of relationships, the human mind and showed ultimately how a person can be sane in one area of the life and have madness in another.

It really made me wonder if I really know the truth of those that are around me. Or if who they’re portraying or who I see them to be is all an act.

I’m slowly working my way through her work but baby - Gayl gonna work your damn brain.. 😮‍💨

megshulse's review against another edition

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2.0

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I really enjoyed the poetic writing, and the characters were intriguing. However, the story and connections themselves fell flat for me. I was confused most of the time! I’m seeing reviews that the audiobook doesn’t do it justice: I may need to add back into my TBR pile to read a physical copy.

sheshu45's review

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Good writing but felt quite rambling and no story as such. This is certainly about the characters but I didn’t really feel I got to know them or connect with them.

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

A lot to chew on but very interesting. The accent work in the audio book leaves much to be desired even if I love how she voiced Catherine and Amanda. Really interesting book, probably needs rereading to really dig into but you do see how she and Morrison were contemporaries.

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