Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Book of Night Women

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The Book of Night Women by Marlon James

13 reviews

jessi_lou95's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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seph268's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

This was an exceptionally hard read; the story is gruesome and left me feeling angry, and a lot of grief. It follows a legendary Jamaican slave revolt, and sheds a light on the true nature of slavery in the West Indies. Marlon James tells a story of the struggle for liberation as a Jamaican man himself, using the native language and incorporating geographical and cultural references.
This is a book that should be read if one is looking into West Indian history, as it references other revolts in other slave holding island colonies.

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sereyn's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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waybeyondblue's review

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Book of Night Women by Marlon James 🔥
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

🔥 The plot: Told in Jamaican dialect, The Book of Night Women is the story of Lilith, a woman born into slavery on a sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. Lilith has a dark power inside her that the other women sense from her birth. They want to enlist her in their plot for revolt, but Lilith's dreams of transcending her position do not align neatly with theirs.

I don't know where to begin reviewing this book. I should say upfront, as if the setting on a slave plantation weren't enough to tell you: this is a brutal read. Currents of violence seethe below the surface of even the calmer passages, erupting in moments of breathtaking cruelty that you'll be thinking about long after reading.

Lilith is one of the most frustrating characters I've ever read. She is not an avatar for the modern reader; she is vain, selfish, and often acts stupidly. There are many moments where you want to reach into the pages and shake her. Don't have a crush on the plantation owner, he's evil! Listen to Homer, she's your only ally! And yet, her thoughts and actions are entirely understandable, even inevitable, given her experiences, and it's gut-wrenching when she cannot outrun the inhuman violence doled out by her masters.

James also gives depth and nuance to the particular evils of each person involved in slavery, from the white men who use it to sate their desires to the white women whose protected femininity is shaped in contrast to enslaved black women. He challenges the reader to resist the common narratives around slavery - ones focusing on love, or justice, or creating a false sense of closure to this period of history - instead creating a sweeping story of strength and survival that expanded my understanding of this period in time.

🔥 Read it if you're ready for all of the above, and want to read an outstanding book about slavery and colonisation that speaks back to established narratives.

🚫 Absolutely check TWs before reading if you might be triggered, as there are loads of them. If you struggle reading books written in dialect, perhaps opt for the audiobook

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