Scan barcode
jbrendanshaw's review against another edition
3.0
A somewhat elliptical story of three people - a woman, her cop husband, and his adopted brother who cares for her after the cop is killed. The story is focused on the intricacies of constructing family and negotiating desires and love. I found the narrative a bit sluggish at first but it gathers momentum in the latter half of the book.
lenny9987's review against another edition
5.0
In the wake of the BLM rallies last summer, I promised myself I would try to read more books by Black writers. I bookmarked and saved many of the lists making the rounds during the #BlackoutBestsellerList push and Whiskey & Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith was one of the books I bought that week after seeing it on a list of books by Black women. The heartbreaking premise was so powerful I added it to my cart immediately. But I also hesitated to start it for that same reason – I’ve got to be in the right headspace to face something I know is going to make me cry. And while Whiskey & Ribbons DID make me cry, there was so much hope and happiness in its pages that the heartbreak wasn’t as thoroughly devastating as I expected it to be. It shows how much grief really is a part of life and how it’s up to us whether or not we let loss destroy us – how much life is about choice even if death rarely is.
Two weeks before Evangeline gave birth to her son, her husband, Eamon, was killed in the line of duty. From the day Noah was born, Eamon’s adopted-brother and life-long best friend, Dalton, was there to help take care of both Evangeline and the baby – fulfilling a promise to Eamon. But six months later, when Evangeline and Dalton find themselves snowed in with Noah at Evangeline’s parents’ house, the two of them must finally confront where they stand with one another and with their grief.
For the rest of my review, please visit my blog: https://wp.me/pUEx4-14R
Two weeks before Evangeline gave birth to her son, her husband, Eamon, was killed in the line of duty. From the day Noah was born, Eamon’s adopted-brother and life-long best friend, Dalton, was there to help take care of both Evangeline and the baby – fulfilling a promise to Eamon. But six months later, when Evangeline and Dalton find themselves snowed in with Noah at Evangeline’s parents’ house, the two of them must finally confront where they stand with one another and with their grief.
For the rest of my review, please visit my blog: https://wp.me/pUEx4-14R
babyjohack's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cindywilk's review against another edition
4.0
When I heard about the 3 POVs I wasn’t sure how I felt because one POV was from the late husband. Often times, this isn’t done well. Looking back, I’m not sure why I was worried because they all flowed together seamlessly, and I can’t imagine not having all three.
It was so refreshing to read a book like this featuring POC.
This was melodramatic, in all of the best ways possible.
It was so refreshing to read a book like this featuring POC.
This was melodramatic, in all of the best ways possible.
williamsdebbied's review against another edition
2.0
I was excited by the buzz around this book and wanted to love it, but it was definitely not the book for me.
Eamon and his best friend/adopted brother Dalton are inseparable. When Eamon, a police officer, is killed in the line of duty, Dalton takes responsibility for Evangeline, Eamon’s very pregnant wife.
If the main focus had been on Eamon and Dalton’s relationship and Dalton’s search for belonging, I would have liked this much better. Unfortunately, the religious overtones (lots of madonna/whore tripe) and the love triangle did not work for me.
The writing itself was fine, but I was so turned off by the story itself that I will be unlikely to read more by this author.
Eamon and his best friend/adopted brother Dalton are inseparable. When Eamon, a police officer, is killed in the line of duty, Dalton takes responsibility for Evangeline, Eamon’s very pregnant wife.
If the main focus had been on Eamon and Dalton’s relationship and Dalton’s search for belonging, I would have liked this much better. Unfortunately, the religious overtones (lots of madonna/whore tripe) and the love triangle did not work for me.
The writing itself was fine, but I was so turned off by the story itself that I will be unlikely to read more by this author.
raekit's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the elements of this story. There were all these complicated characters entangled with each other. I especially loved were how much love and care were documented and centered in this book. I don't mean to say that it is sentimental, because I do not think it is, but rather that while this book tackles grief and loss and how we can hurt it each other it feels like the characters genuinely love and care for each other that there are several different manifestations of love portrayed: parent and child, adoptive family and child, siblings, romantic partners, uncles and nephews, close friendships.
What let this down for me was that while the jumping points of view was interesting, it broke up the narrative and I felt like it kept us from diving deeper into knowing the characters. There were so many complexities laid out but in the end, I wish there was more work on knitting them together and delving into the various people in the book more deeply.
What let this down for me was that while the jumping points of view was interesting, it broke up the narrative and I felt like it kept us from diving deeper into knowing the characters. There were so many complexities laid out but in the end, I wish there was more work on knitting them together and delving into the various people in the book more deeply.
gabsalott13's review against another edition
5.0
I don’t think I can adequately express how much I loved this book, but I have to try! In her first novel, [a:Leesa Cross-Smith|6569545|Leesa Cross-Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1393977141p2/6569545.jpg] proves just how much we needed her work. Whiskey & Ribbons is a devastating, intimate, lover’s knot of a book, and so far it’s my favorite of the year.
Without spoiling too much, this is the story of the Royce Family, namely Evangeline, Eamon, and Dalton Berkeley-Royce. When Eamon, a Louisville police sergeant, is killed during a house call, he leaves his wife Evangeline, their unborn son Noah, and his adopted brother, Dalton, to figure out how they will live without Eamon as their glue. The story is told from the perspectives of Evangeline, Eamon, and Dalton, all at slightly different times in their lives. I REALLY enjoyed the overlapping time periods, because you gain a sense of how these characters experience the same situations on entirely different plains. It’s perhaps most interesting that Leesa Cross-Smith chooses to place Evangeline’s perspective in a present snowstorm, while the men mostly narrate (read: are stuck in) the past.
Throughout the book, I was most drawn to the brothers’ perspectives, which is usually never the case for me. Cross-Smith knows just how to capture the emotional incompetence and emotional attempts of men, so that their failures are presented alongside their earnest intentions to do right by their wives and children, and their glowing instances of brotherhood. It’s a refreshingly well-rounded way to tell a love triangle (though honestly, this is like a love pentagram), and makes it so that no character comes across as “better” than the others. When reading this book, I felt like all its guilt and grief were in 3-D, making it super painstaking to determine the "right choices" before and after Eamon’s death. Never in this book do you not empathize deeply with a character being described, because you never feel any narrative distance from any of them. Cross-Smith takes us way past the edge of their emotions, and I’m so thankful for that.
I would fly through these chapters, and then not read it for a couple of hours because I didn't want to finish the book, and have the story be over. I felt ALL OF THE WAYS about every situation, and I know that it’ll be super hard to leave this one behind. I don’t want to say too much more because I want everyone to read it, immediately!
P.S. In addition to her insular depictions of love and loss, Cross-Smith is also making a larger point about fictive kinship and surrogate parenthood, both of which have sustained many black communities. Like I said in my review
of [b:An American Marriage|33590210|An American Marriage|Tayari Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491493625s/33590210.jpg|54403192], we don’t see enough of these situations celebrated in literature, though it’s so, so common and important for many people's upbringings. I’ll leave y’all with Dalton’s heartbreaking conversation on page 90, of which I’ll just quote a bit: “I grew up with a man who wasn’t my biological dad, but he’d do anything for me. So there are also these guys out here doubling up. Pulling twice their load without complaining…”
Without spoiling too much, this is the story of the Royce Family, namely Evangeline, Eamon, and Dalton Berkeley-Royce. When Eamon, a Louisville police sergeant, is killed during a house call, he leaves his wife Evangeline, their unborn son Noah, and his adopted brother, Dalton, to figure out how they will live without Eamon as their glue. The story is told from the perspectives of Evangeline, Eamon, and Dalton, all at slightly different times in their lives. I REALLY enjoyed the overlapping time periods, because you gain a sense of how these characters experience the same situations on entirely different plains. It’s perhaps most interesting that Leesa Cross-Smith chooses to place Evangeline’s perspective in a present snowstorm, while the men mostly narrate (read: are stuck in) the past.
Throughout the book, I was most drawn to the brothers’ perspectives, which is usually never the case for me. Cross-Smith knows just how to capture the emotional incompetence and emotional attempts of men, so that their failures are presented alongside their earnest intentions to do right by their wives and children, and their glowing instances of brotherhood. It’s a refreshingly well-rounded way to tell a love triangle (though honestly, this is like a love pentagram), and makes it so that no character comes across as “better” than the others. When reading this book, I felt like all its guilt and grief were in 3-D, making it super painstaking to determine the "right choices" before and after Eamon’s death. Never in this book do you not empathize deeply with a character being described, because you never feel any narrative distance from any of them. Cross-Smith takes us way past the edge of their emotions, and I’m so thankful for that.
I would fly through these chapters, and then not read it for a couple of hours because I didn't want to finish the book, and have the story be over. I felt ALL OF THE WAYS about every situation, and I know that it’ll be super hard to leave this one behind. I don’t want to say too much more because I want everyone to read it, immediately!
P.S. In addition to her insular depictions of love and loss, Cross-Smith is also making a larger point about fictive kinship and surrogate parenthood, both of which have sustained many black communities. Like I said in my review
of [b:An American Marriage|33590210|An American Marriage|Tayari Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491493625s/33590210.jpg|54403192], we don’t see enough of these situations celebrated in literature, though it’s so, so common and important for many people's upbringings. I’ll leave y’all with Dalton’s heartbreaking conversation on page 90, of which I’ll just quote a bit: “I grew up with a man who wasn’t my biological dad, but he’d do anything for me. So there are also these guys out here doubling up. Pulling twice their load without complaining…”
mhbloss's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn't get into this one. I ended up skimming through more than half of it.