Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

27 reviews

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

4.5

This is a book I was recommended by a member of an online book club. I really had no idea what it would be about and sometimes I like to go into things with no preconceptions. The focus of this book is telling an intergenerational story of a family. It is fiction, but has the feel of several intergenerational narratives I have liked, such as Wild Swans. The focus of the narrative is Feminist and is an account of the history of Black Americans in the South (specifically Georgia).

Having read Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, and Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, a lot of the plot points of this book were familiar. If you haven't learned much about the Antebellum South, this could be quite rough going. As a historian (main character) Ailey Pearl Garfield is often shaken, and moved to tears, by the accounts she unearths about happenings in her family's past.

This story is nuanced, and the characters feel like people rather than archetypes. Weaving a history filled with trauma would be pretty much impossible without some levity and there is a lot of dialogue that lightens the mood. Some of the humour is utterly hilarious and there are often call-backs to information about minor characters that pepper the backstory with shared in-jokes and form a real sense of this family inhabiting a rich world and community. There are a couple of LGBT characters in the story, and a family history of Dyslexia which becomes apparent as Ailey digs deeper into her family's story.

I could write an entire page to describe the content warnings... but I won't. Let's just say that Racism is the tip of a horrible, bloody iceberg, and that genocide, sexual abuse, physical abuse, suicide, drug addiction, miscarriage, gaslighting and oppression of various forms are all in this book. It's a big book.. there are a lot of words.. and not all of it is pretty.

The Audiobook is beautifully narrated by 3 different voice talents, and the story spans several different timelines, so if you are "reading" by Audiobook it's a good idea to download the supplemental material that lists the genealogy of the family, so you don't get lost.

Thoroughly recommend this book. I found myself really excited by some revelations near the end and more than once I got body chills and frisson from emotionally resonant bits. This would be a great bookclub read if you have people who read at about the same pace, and don't mind tomes that exceed 800 pages.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Abortion, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Police brutality and Religious bigotry

ryanbada's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infidelity and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage and Fire/Fire injury

vicktorea's review against another edition

emotional reflective

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

4.75

wow. a literal Black epic!

this was so fantastic! i loved the deep dive into Black history and learning the deep roots of the characters! i felt so deeply connected to them - i laughed with them, grieved with them, felt their anger and frustrations and also felt moments of anger and frustration towards them.

This was looong but everything was interwoven and came together beautifully! A very memorable read!

I listened to the audio for this via Hoopla and really enjoyed the narration!

I urge to check the CWs for this - there are many! Some of the most notable being: rape, (child/domestic/physical/emotional) abuse, /pedophilia/molestation, racism, slavery. The author does not shy away from depicting the realistic historical mistreatment of Black people (particularly young, Black, female slaves).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death

ladykhari's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, and Classism

roasjeno's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Beautiful. Lyrical. Truly a masterpiece. Jeffers paints each character with such fine detail to convey these were and are real people; she challenges us to feel empathy for people we have been told are the past. I personally love intergenerational family sagas, and especially appreciated how these tales were woven into our main character’s research, as if we were following along with the author Jeffers as she researched for this novel. I’d say that this book is comparable in its scope and (potential) influence to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Márquez.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

qqjj's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chaptersbydani's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

jennikreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

martachbc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

Absolutely wonderful. Probably could have been a little shorter. Hits every emotion, even (and especially) the ones you don’t want to feel.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racial slurs and Death of parent

Minor: Abortion