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4.6 AVERAGE
4.6 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-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
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
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:
Yes
Beautiful, devastating, gut-wrenching book. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers has etched the history of this country in one family’s pain and joy and suffering and relief. This story stretches endlessly into the past while remaining inextricably rooted to our circumstances today. Beautiful, horrifying, challenging book. Absolutely leveled me. I think it will be a long time before I can bring myself to read this again.
5 stars.
I'm not even sure where to begin reviewing this book. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is an Epic. The research alone astounds me. But, friend, the writing. The character development, the evident love for each and every layer. I cannot even begin to explain. I opted to listen to this one on audible and I absolutely LOVED the narration.
I am but one woefully-poorly educated white woman attempting to make space and open my heart and mind for the stories of BIPOC women. And I hit the proverbial jackpot with this book.
In the afterword, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers explains that this is an unapologetic Black Feminist Novel. And I could not applaud her more for her work.
The novel spans generations of one Southern American Family-whose bloodlines cross Creek Indian, African Slave, White Plantation Owner, Mulatto, Quadroon, and more...it is primarily the story of the women of this family. Their trials, tribulations, deep and abiding love...their pain & sacrifice and through it all their fierce love. It is so incredibly beautifully written that it brought me to tears on numerous occasions.
It was educational, eye-opening, thought provoking and occasionally frustrating. But always, always...excellent.
I hope beyond hope that this book will be made into a movie. Or, more realistically, a netflix 10 part series.
Recommended to every woman I know who cares about other women and their stories.
I'm not even sure where to begin reviewing this book. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is an Epic. The research alone astounds me. But, friend, the writing. The character development, the evident love for each and every layer. I cannot even begin to explain. I opted to listen to this one on audible and I absolutely LOVED the narration.
I am but one woefully-poorly educated white woman attempting to make space and open my heart and mind for the stories of BIPOC women. And I hit the proverbial jackpot with this book.
In the afterword, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers explains that this is an unapologetic Black Feminist Novel. And I could not applaud her more for her work.
The novel spans generations of one Southern American Family-whose bloodlines cross Creek Indian, African Slave, White Plantation Owner, Mulatto, Quadroon, and more...it is primarily the story of the women of this family. Their trials, tribulations, deep and abiding love...their pain & sacrifice and through it all their fierce love. It is so incredibly beautifully written that it brought me to tears on numerous occasions.
It was educational, eye-opening, thought provoking and occasionally frustrating. But always, always...excellent.
I hope beyond hope that this book will be made into a movie. Or, more realistically, a netflix 10 part series.
Recommended to every woman I know who cares about other women and their stories.
Amazing multigenerational story of Ailey and her ancestors, going back to days when the Creek indians were living in Georgia and then slavery. There is sexual abuse and general abuse in this novel but even though it is almost 800 pages long it was a page turner and I did not want to put it down. It is one of those books that I will think about for awhile. The author dubs it as feminist historical fiction.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
Wow, this truly was an incredible novel! Although there were some extremely difficult parts to get through, the book was beautifully written and I loved the way the past and present stories were connected. This is a long read but I can't recommend it enough!!
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
At first I gave this book 4.5 stars, but a couple weeks later, I'm changing it to 4. It was a really good book - I learned lots, enjoyed the style, and stayed engrossed which is why I rated it so highly.
But the writing was occasionally sort of naive, and I felt like a good editor would have chopped out some bits of it.
But the writing was occasionally sort of naive, and I felt like a good editor would have chopped out some bits of it.