Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

26 reviews

jakobmarleymommy's review

challenging slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Vomit, Gore, Racism, and Sexual violence

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-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

4.0

Like most books on slavery, this was emotionally hard to read. But it was beautifully written, and I loved Annis and even Aza. I have hope for Annis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

timtellsstories's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully written and ultimately moving, she lost me in a few key moments of conflict and tension because she leans too heavily on her poetry when I need her to deliver precise prose. As a result, I didn't understand some of the fallout of those conflict points. Further, I didn't feel like I got to know many of the characters well, not even Anissa. Liked it, didn't love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Trafficking, Slavery, Confinement, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny and Torture

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

useyourgoodeye's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.5

The book was very raw and the writing style put the reader in the story with stunning details. I just didn't care much for the mysticism and ethereal being aspects. I also felt as though the ending was too hasty and I would have liked to see more character storylines be fleshed out.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Racism, and Sexual assault

ka_cam's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? No

4.5

Brutal and lyrical, follows a young woman born into US slavery and sold down the river after her mother and with, though quickly separated from, her lover. Spirit-ful and spiritual reflections on grief, intergenerational trauma, mother’s love, the connections between people, places and times. Good, heartbreaking, read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Confinement, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, and Sexism

mdinkle1's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

kell_xavi's review

challenging emotional medium-paced

4.5

Perhaps the most heartfelt writer I have read. Jesmyn Ward writes Annie and her mother, her companions, with strength and depth; she writes their daily struggles as the subjects of unending cruelty in sharp detail, from a character full of determination and despair, until both she and her reality are stark and fully imagined before us, until we are immersed in that dark place—and in the bloom of scents, the pain of cut palms, the seeping presence of spirits to watch and intercede. It is a hard story, because the history, the knowledge that these acts of enslavement, brutality, rape, starvation, torture and confinement were common and that thousands of people lived through them and bear their legacy. Ward reminds us, much like the spirit who records the names of those who cross the sea remembers, so the lives, the harms, and the fires can be felt in the land and the people we are among today. So that we can imagine what bodies were forced to bear, and the poetry and love that those extremely resilient people still found and shared, the will to live that carried skills and knowledge from person to person, and across generations unto freedom.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Incest, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Pregnancy, Confinement, and Pedophilia

_annika__'s review

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? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Racism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Slavery, Emotional abuse, and Rape

natalieba's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? No

5.0

 Loved this one, even though it was tough to get through at times. Her writing is beautiful and I wanted to pick it up despite the difficult content. The main character was interesting and well-drawn, and I enjoyed the spiritual/magical aspect of the novel -that Annis drew strength from the spirits around her was compelling and thought-provoking. Highly recommend the audio, which is ready by the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

mugsandmanuscripts's review

challenging emotional sad tense

• 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

5.0

 It's hard to write a book about slavery that strikes the balance between a realistic portrayal of the brutality of the institution and the resilience of the human spirit. I think Jesmyn Ward mastered it in this book. 

 

The violence of slavery—physical, emotional, and sexual—cannot be overstated (and should never be understated). For that reason, I was hesitant to read this book. As I work on decolonizing my bookshelves, I've been adding books that speak to the experience of being Black in America, and part of that is reading slavery narratives (both historical and fictional). These narratives are always heavy and never easy. But I keep reminding myself that if people experienced this violence, I have no excuse for not reading about it. 

 

That said, Let Us Descend is heavy, but artfully crafted and beautiful in its portrayal of the human spirit. The book follows Annis (nicknamed Arese by her mother) on her harrowing journey from the plantation on which she was born (the product of the slaveowner and one of his slaves) to another plantation to which she is sold and beyond. It starts with her close relationship with her loving mother and follows the other relationships Annis cultivates in spite of (and because of) her status as a slave. 

 

The relationships Annis develops—some more intimate/longer than others—form the heart of the novel and the life of our main character. Each relationship becomes a part of who Annis is. Along her journey, she becomes acquainted with several ancestral spirits, one in particular who has followed three generations of women in Annis's family line. 

 

Over the course of the novel, Annis fights to develop her own sense of self, which is especially difficult given that she lives within the confines of slavery. The result is a beautiful story woven with strings of loss, strength, love, grief, oppression, resilience and self-discovery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Slavery, and Confinement

Moderate: Sexual violence