Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

32 reviews

erebus53's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is a book I was recommended by a member of an online book club. I really had no idea what it would be about and sometimes I like to go into things with no preconceptions. The focus of this book is telling an intergenerational story of a family. It is fiction, but has the feel of several intergenerational narratives I have liked, such as Wild Swans. The focus of the narrative is Feminist and is an account of the history of Black Americans in the South (specifically Georgia).

Having read Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, and Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, a lot of the plot points of this book were familiar. If you haven't learned much about the Antebellum South, this could be quite rough going. As a historian (main character) Ailey Pearl Garfield is often shaken, and moved to tears, by the accounts she unearths about happenings in her family's past.

This story is nuanced, and the characters feel like people rather than archetypes. Weaving a history filled with trauma would be pretty much impossible without some levity and there is a lot of dialogue that lightens the mood. Some of the humour is utterly hilarious and there are often call-backs to information about minor characters that pepper the backstory with shared in-jokes and form a real sense of this family inhabiting a rich world and community. There are a couple of LGBT characters in the story, and a family history of Dyslexia which becomes apparent as Ailey digs deeper into her family's story.

I could write an entire page to describe the content warnings... but I won't. Let's just say that Racism is the tip of a horrible, bloody iceberg, and that genocide, sexual abuse, physical abuse, suicide, drug addiction, miscarriage, gaslighting and oppression of various forms are all in this book. It's a big book.. there are a lot of words.. and not all of it is pretty.

The Audiobook is beautifully narrated by 3 different voice talents, and the story spans several different timelines, so if you are "reading" by Audiobook it's a good idea to download the supplemental material that lists the genealogy of the family, so you don't get lost.

Thoroughly recommend this book. I found myself really excited by some revelations near the end and more than once I got body chills and frisson from emotionally resonant bits. This would be a great bookclub read if you have people who read at about the same pace, and don't mind tomes that exceed 800 pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Mental illness, Grief, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Excrement, Addiction, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Murder, Genocide, Suicide, Misogyny, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Torture, Homophobia, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Blood, Alcohol, Ableism, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Gore, Classism, Child abuse, Abortion, Violence, Self harm, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Incest, Domestic abuse, Death, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Drug use, and Drug abuse

cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexism, Self harm, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Colonisation, Addiction, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

Minor: Religious bigotry and Police brutality

syellico's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.5

This book is an undertaking. I read it with a group over 3 months as a slow and steady which I know affected my experience. Prolonging some of the absolutely horrible subject matter probably made it an even more difficult read than it is. 
In the end, I was just ready to be done and I probably missed some impact because of it. 
For me, it was just too long and I never was able to completely keep track of the multitude of characters. Major trigger warnings abound.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Addiction, Body horror, Blood, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

annie26's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

There are books and there are BOOKS, this one falls into the latter category. There are few books that you read in life where you know that you won’t be the same upon finishing it. You know that it’ll permeate your mind, your thoughts , your whole being and that is what Jefferson’s exploration of the history of America through the intergenerational story of Ailey’s family story. This is a very hard book to read at times but I’m so grateful for it. I’m so filled with gratitude for the stories of black people everywhere, for the stories of native Americans and for the stories of my own ancestors. What a beautiful saga of a story. An instant forever fave. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Addiction, Mental illness, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Sexual violence

ryanbada's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Death, Drug use, Slavery, Sexual content, Addiction, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity and Pregnancy

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Miscarriage

deereadingwallflower's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Abortion, Addiction, Child abuse, Grief, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, and Slavery

malexandriay's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Addiction, Colonisation, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Incest, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, and Physical abuse

madelonpaige's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Slavery, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Death of parent, Hate crime, Abortion, Racism, Incest, and Miscarriage

etl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Addiction, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Grief, Incest, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Self harm, Abortion, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, and Gun violence

whatmeganreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

What a breathtaking saga of a book! I had been putting it off because of its size (it's a huge freaking doorstop at 800 pages), but I'm glad I finally took the time to read it. 

Trigger warnings abound - abuse of adults and children, both physical and sexual, rape, violence, and addiction.

It's a hard read, (a very, very hard read at different times throughout the story), but I would emphasize it is also a very important one. If readers shied away from all things hard or uncomfortable or dark, we would be in sorry shape. That being said, I understand there is a time and a place (and a reading mood) for everything....and you should be prepared and in the right place before you read this.

This novel is stunning. It is guttural and harsh. And before you finish, it feels like the characters are your family. I will be thinking about this one for a long, long time to come.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Medical content, Pedophilia, Addiction, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Abortion, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse