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avalin1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
4.5
bookedupandbusy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
*** This book won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, the language is highly vulgar and crude. But for me, I had a fantastic reading journey and consider this book to be a literary masterpiece. I will NOT forget this story.
A short book (178 pages) that weighed so heavy on me, I hated reading about a black woman being taken advantage of throughout her life!
Eva is a black woman sitting on a psychiatric ward for the murder and mutilation of her lover and they want to know why she did it. When I learnt of her past, my heart felt heavy for Eva 🥲
Written in 1976, the story explores a black woman’s sexual victimisation from childhood to adulthood. We go back into Eva’s past where her memories show us how the men in her life have emotionally and sexually contributed to her becoming a troubled woman and why she has ended up on a psychiatric ward.
The structure of this novel is challenging, but once you understand the flow, it becomes an easy read. Be prepared… it’s non-linear the story jumps back and forth between 3 or 4 events at a time within chapters. It’s disorienting and certain lines are highly repetitive and this gave me a headache at times, but I think this depicts Eva’s mind on the psychiatric ward very well.
This is a character driven novel and there is not one sane character in this book. Excellent, well-thought out writing that may make you hate men.
⭐️This author is the woman who Toni Morrison said changed literature forever.
⭐️This book is a reminder to myself not to neglect my back list books. A HIDDEN GEM.
misssharpe's review against another edition
3.0
This is the second book I’ve read by this author and I like her a lot. She writes trauma and tragedy beautifully. This book is way older .. but it reminds me of Where the Crawdads Sing in the sense that this book starts with a crime being committed against a man by a woman and the book unfolding and giving background into the traumas that led up to the crime being committed. I find that interesting
bp_43's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cazinthehat's review against another edition
5.0
Cracking, scintillating. I don’t know any writer like her.
readingtreena's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
2.0
shhtaeisreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Mental illness
tallgf's review against another edition
5.0
A very fucking intense read, but also a very good one. So much of this is descriptions of sexual violence in various forms but there's a purpose. This is a book about the violence that is normalized and how the reactions to that violence are pathologized and criminalized. Women out their rapist and then told think about how they're damaging the future of their rapist, cops kill people in the streets and many people look down on the rioters rather than the cops, and here Eva is expected to just put up with the violence she hears about, experiences, and witnesses. Eva is silent in a world she knows will not listen, but Gayl Jones is speaking and wants you to listen.
megthegrand's review against another edition
3.0
Very graphic and very heavy. Sexual abuse throughout. Interesting style structure, which I was able to follow for the most part. The various scenes and people in her life run together, so there isn't a linear storyline, but it kept me reading steadily without putting the book down.