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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Overall very enjoyable. I really enjoyed the snapshots of life of Hattie and her children as African Americans on the edge of poverty, refugees from the Jim Crow South, between the 1920s and the 1980s. The setting and characters were incredibly detailed and realistic. I loved them.
My only complaint is that it was really a series of snapshots of the lives of these individuals and we never got much follow up or closure on most of them. I felt the novel was more interconnected vignettes than cohesive stories. If you get attached to characters and need to know what happens, you will be disappointed. If you accept this book for what it is, beautifully framed and narrated moments of time, than you will enjoy this book greatly.
In one of the stories, the son who was in Vietnam, the narration abruptly switches from the female narrator (who has done previous chapters told in a male voice) to that of a male voice actor. It was extremely surprising and a bit jarring, but after the first couple of minutes, adjustments were made and I appreciated what the new narrator was doing with the character.
My only complaint is that it was really a series of snapshots of the lives of these individuals and we never got much follow up or closure on most of them. I felt the novel was more interconnected vignettes than cohesive stories. If you get attached to characters and need to know what happens, you will be disappointed. If you accept this book for what it is, beautifully framed and narrated moments of time, than you will enjoy this book greatly.
In one of the stories, the son who was in Vietnam, the narration abruptly switches from the female narrator (who has done previous chapters told in a male voice) to that of a male voice actor. It was extremely surprising and a bit jarring, but after the first couple of minutes, adjustments were made and I appreciated what the new narrator was doing with the character.
I actually gave up on this one. I always try to finish, but this one was pretty much a bunch of short stories about Hattie's children. I didn't really get how they were tying together and I wasn't engaged at all.
I am slowly learning that just cause it is popular among book clubs, that doesn't mean it is good.
I am slowly learning that just cause it is popular among book clubs, that doesn't mean it is good.
The ending lost it for me- it was really engrossing up until the last section. It was good though, and I liked that each section was from a different child's point-of-view. Ultimately, it didn't quite live up to the hype for me.
The beginning was great and what saved it from a one star review. Unfortunately, as the story went on is progressively slowed down and I lost interest. It was a chore to finish.
I was underwhelmed by this book, especially given the amount of critical acclaim it's attracted. It's basically a collection of short stories each focusing on a different child of Hattie, which could have been extremely powerful, but there simply aren't enough unifying narrative threads woven throughout to make the book feel like a cohesive and meaningful whole. Taken separately, some of the stories are affecting but failed to ever make me feel like I was reading something truly fresh and original. The book isn't bad by any means, but it isn't great either.
What an incredible book! Not only was it well-written, but it dealt with some really heavy issues both in-depth and very sensitively. Reading almost like a collection of short stories, this novel gave insight not only into being black in America from the 1920s on, but touched on other aspects of society and personality that people were going through at the time. The intersection of issues and difficulties struck me as both hard and important to read. Mathis balanced out these areas with courageous people trying to find humor in difficult situations. I would highly recommend "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie"!
Wow, I did not think that this book was going to end. An interesting look at the lives of a family, however, this book was not my cup of tea.
Not very cohesive. Also- she only had 11 children so why is it called the Twelve Tribes? Meh.