Reviews

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

dinasamimi's review against another edition

4.0

This book is short and sweet, with layers of depth to unpack.

thepetitepunk's review against another edition

4.0

Red to the Bone was my fourth Jacqueline Woodson novel and as usual, it was short but impactful. Really great character dynamics and complex emotions. I usually don’t like books that are written with multiple point of views or books that go back and forth in time, and this one did both, but it worked for me. Great as an audiobook.

✧ ✧ ✧

≪reading 31 books for 31 days of july≫
╰┈➤ 1. intimacies by katie kitamura
╰┈➤ 2. convenience store woman by sayaka murata
╰┈➤ 3. shout by laurie halse anderson
╰┈➤ 4. lemon by kwon yeo-sun
╰┈➤ 5. here the whole time by vitor martins
╰┈➤ 6. i’m still here: black dignity in a world made for whiteness by austin channing brown
╰┈➤ 7. the worst kind of want by liska jacobs
╰┈➤ 8. come as you are by emily nagoski
╰┈➤ 9. the swimmers by julie otsuka
╰┈➤ 10. fables: book one by bill willingham
╰┈➤ 11. fables: book one by bill willinghamthe wild robot by peter brown
╰┈➤ 12. red to the bone by jacqueline woodson

rachelhilary's review against another edition

4.0

I chose to read this because I'm familiar with some of Jacqueline Woodson's children's books and was interested to explore more of her writing.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the various narrators and their energy and emotion. This novel was beautifully written. I was surprised how much the author was able to fit into such a short novel. I particularly enjoyed the chapters about Iris and Aubrey. While I'm not sure if the story will stick with me forever, this was a quick and enjoyable read.

fbroom's review against another edition

I’m a big fan of Jacqueline Woodson. I loved both Brown Girl Dreaming and Another Brooklyn. This one though, I still enjoyed the writing but I wasn’t 100% hooked to the story.

emilycmorris0923's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

quristeenb's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

magdamagbuecher's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

Die Sprache ist so schön und poetisch!!!

tishywishy's review against another edition

3.0

It's not often that you come across a book that gives you the voice of almost every character. It's an interesting take that I wasn't expecting. Red at the Bone touches on so many topics - sexual exploration, lgbtq realities, gentrification, teenage pregnancy, heartbreak, racism - I could go on. It read like a slice of life book and perhaps this is why I felt it kept going on with no real sense of purpose.

khornstein1's review against another edition

4.0

Read this one on the recommendation of a friend and fellow Obie (did not know Oberlin would figure in the book--yay!) There is so much poetry in this book, and just generally so much everything (and it's all good). I got caught up in all the characters' storylines despite the book's brevity. Loved all the Brooklyn in the book too.

galoshes's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

This beautiful book is so short yet effortlessly delivers the life stories of five family members and three generations in their own words. We time travel from chapter to chapter, and there's never any mention of an exact year but we know what era it is because of the world events, the scene around the character, the type of car people drive, the way people speak. I love how each character is conveyed: in so few words I feel like I know them, and I never had trouble telling them apart. I love the last scene and the callback to a detail that was only mentioned once in the beginning, that took me a minute to remember and when I did I felt like applauding.

I happened to read this soon after Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - the unexpected parallel is throwing me. Sometimes life hands you books in the right order.