2.84k reviews for:

Let Us Descend

Jesmyn Ward

3.86 AVERAGE

daysianae's review

5.0

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

julie_d33's review

3.75

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense 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: No

dbluminberg's review

4.0

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Such wonderful language for such a harrowing topic. Slavery and magical realism, two of my least favorite things. The story follows the story of Annis, a young slave girl somewhere in the Carolinas. Her mother is sold away. Annis finds comfort with another young slave girl. When their comfort is discovered, Annis is sold and begins a chained, tortured walk to New Orleans. The brutality, the violence, the depravity took my breath away. There were several points where I considered not reading any further. The spirit of Aza appears to her to help and frustrate. It ends on a lighter, more positive note (is that possible with a slave story) but I really need a study guide to get the most out of this beautifully written novel.

thebookhousegirl's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

coovadia's review

5.0

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Wonderful!

kass_kouk's review

4.5

dark emotional reflective tense

Strong character development: Yes

mngrill16's review

3.5

challenging dark reflective sad 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: No

kerryw78's review

3.5

dark emotional sad 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: No

bookishmagpie's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Not bad but not memorable 

biblioberuthiel's review

4.0

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A difficult read. This didn't quite blow me out of the water in the way Sing, Unburied, Sing did but was still phenomenal. It's got some P. Djeli Clark adjacent vibes.