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4.6 AVERAGE
4.6 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
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:
Complicated
I was scared to start this book - books with 800 pages really intimidate me. But this book was such an amazing experience. I was completely taken with the storylines - I felt every emotion - laughed, cried, and celebrated throughout the book. This book is brilliant.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Beautiful, lyrical, heart wrenching. I’d happily read another 800 pages just like this.
I can't believe how long it took me to read this, it's been so long since I've taken this long to read a book without purposefully trying to take my time with it.
Anyways this did not need to be as long as it was. I found the historical flashbacks in this to be really interesting, and I enjoyed the sections of the book that focused on Lydia and their mom, but I found Ailey kind of boring. So much of her teenage/young adult years were focused on her love life which I found so uninteresting compared to whatever else was going on. There were so many other characters that seemed so much more interesting.
Anyways this did not need to be as long as it was. I found the historical flashbacks in this to be really interesting, and I enjoyed the sections of the book that focused on Lydia and their mom, but I found Ailey kind of boring. So much of her teenage/young adult years were focused on her love life which I found so uninteresting compared to whatever else was going on. There were so many other characters that seemed so much more interesting.
All the good things you’ve heard about this book are true, and a bunch more besides.
Wow. This book left me both speechless and with a thousand things to say. This was one of the greatest books I've ever read, and I will be thinking about this read for a very long time. The storytelling, layered narratives, and expansive timeline was so beautifully done. This was a long and often challenging read, but I truly could have read 1000 more pages. This book challenged and changed my perspectives on race, history, intersectionality, identity, privilege, culture, and womanhood. This should be required reading for everyone (though there is a lot of triggering and sensitive topics so if you have triggers, PLEASE check for content warnings before starting your read)
~3.25
Rounded up ~.25 for the feat of writing this massive novel and the ideas behind it. Personally did not like prose and found the main narrators to be incredibly flat. Meaning it took me months to slog through the 800-ish pages. All in all, the aim of the book was, and still is, honorable but execution was poor.
Rounded up ~.25 for the feat of writing this massive novel and the ideas behind it. Personally did not like prose and found the main narrators to be incredibly flat. Meaning it took me months to slog through the 800-ish pages. All in all, the aim of the book was, and still is, honorable but execution was poor.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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:
N/A