Reviews with content warning for Trafficking - She Would Be King

This book deserves words of praise I may never be eloquent enough to write. In She Would Be King, Wayétu Moore creates a novel directly from the heart. This book feels like an offering -- a spiritual experience with the understanding and empathy of your wisest elder.

This book is poetry. It's heartbreak and love at the same time. It's the best, most beautiful, most magical aspects of the human species... And the most sinister. It's hope, and it's pain. It's love in the purest and most raw forms.

This is a book I didn't want to put down. And it's a book I never want to let go. It's not a page-turner, exactly, but it felt precious. I felt honored to be able to read it, to witness it. Every word deserved to be savored. And even though I've finished the final pages, I don't think this book will ever be done for me. It'll stay in my heart. It'll be in the wind on my face. It'll flow in my veins, whispering encouragement, tenacity, and resilience. It'll live through my actions.

Gbessa will not die.

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unfiltered_fiction's review

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adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

She Would Be King is an absolutely phenomenal story that interrogates the concept of power - in its magical, social, political, martial, physical, emotion, and spiritual manifestations - in a very sophisticated way. The book is not without its flaws, and it is likely to appeal more to readers who prefer character-driven stories, but it is filled with gorgeous writing and intricate metaphors which capture some very difficult and complicated themes. It is important to note that this book deals with some very distressing themes, and I would recommend checking content warnings if you feel that you may be affected.

She Would Be King contains some of the most beautiful nature writing I have ever read. The relationships between the three characters and the landscapes they move through are incredibly compelling, and captured in staggeringly beautiful prose. This was my favourite aspect of the entire book. The personification of the wind, the sun, and the moon weaves together the two major themes of nature and ancestral power, creating an atmosphere which feels vibrant and stunning, yet fresh and authentic - a difficult feat for fantasy writing.

The writing is very metaphor heavy. This is done incredibly skilfully, but may not be for all readers; this is a book with very intricate layers. It is difficult to do justice to the many complexities of the different themes and the way they are represented; Moore writes so insightfully about so many enormous issues, including but by no means limited to: sexism, superstition, religion, racism, slavery, colonisation, colourism, culture, classism, nationhood, romantic love, friendship, and family. I did not feel that any of these themes were brushed over; each was dipped into with real compassion and consideration. The influence of real world history and politics creates a very strong foundation for the more fantastical elements of Moore's story, and these two aspects are blended together with incredible artistry.

For me, this book's main shortcoming is the plotting. It is certainly more character than plot driven. Gbessa's story is fascinating and heartbreaking; the one part of her character which I struggled with was her subservience to various male characters. The reasons for this are completely fair and clear, but those reasons are worked through a little too slowly

and I found it frustrating that her moment of real liberation and empowerment was dependent on her first love being finally and thoroughly removed from her world. It was fantastic to see her finally come into her own power; however I felt that this moment came a little late in the narrative for her character to bloom into its absolute full potential. This character development could have been better paced.

I was a little frustrated by other elements in the second half of the book; I had hoped to see the stories of the three main characters weave together a little more closely. Although the sections introducing June Dey and Norman were very, very strong, their role in the rest of the story feels a little lacklustre compared to Gbessa's. Overall, I would definitely consider the first half a five star read, but the second half settles just under four stars for me. It's still good (with some excellent aspects), but not as incredibly charged after the first three sections.

The ending felt strangely paced. It is important to remember that this is a book about a beginning. As a reader, you're not working towards a conclusion, but a new start; this was a little jarring for me, but the more I dwell on it, the more I understand the author's choice.

Overall, this is an excellent read that I would recommend to fantasy and non-fantasy readers alike. It is not easy to read, and it is not for everyone; again, I encourage readers anxious about difficult content to check the content warnings. However, this book is compelling, magical, frank, difficult, excellent, and beautiful, all in its turns.

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katiepeach's review

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

“The girl with the biggest gift of us all. Life. If she was not a girl or if she was not a woman; if she was not a woman or if she was not a witch, she would be king.”

I spent all day yesterday reading this book. And, wow, it’s incredible. I started this last year, but in my struggle to focus on anything, couldn’t finish. I’m wishing I had finished it sooner! The writing is so, so good and the story is captivating! If you love literary fiction and/or magical realism and history, definitely pick this one up right now.

She Would Be King is a magical realism novel about Liberia’s beginning. Moore intertwines the story of a boy raised as a slave in the United States, a boy who is the son of a slave and a British man from Jamaica, and a girl from West Africa to tell the story of Liberia. In the 1800s, Blacks from the United States and the Caribbean began to settle in Liberia and create a country of their own. However, there were already people living there, which understandably created tensions between the indigenous population and the settlers. I won’t go into too much detail about the history, because I think this novel explains it beautifully and better than I ever could, and it is a key part of the storyline.

The three main characters—Gbessa, June Day, and Norman—have separate journeys to Monrovia, but eventually meet. All three have special powers that eventually play a role in the formation of Liberia and the protection of the new country from colonial powers.

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bdubmac's review

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adventurous dark sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Although very interesting, this book contained so much violence it was very hard for me to get through. Trafficking and slavery. Content warnings reported.

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mal_eficent's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was beautiful, and engaging at every moment. I felt so much for these characters and what they were going through that I had to pause the story every now and then just to break away for a moment. It was tense, enraging, and exultant all at once – helped by the style it's written in, which is more like a spoken story being retold than a written one. It gives the book a rhythm that made it, for me at least, really easy to listen to, but I'm not sure how it would have been to read.

I'd definitely recommend picking up the audiobook if you can, both because Moore does an excellent job, and because it gives the story a pace and intonation which I think will improve the reading experience for people who don't normally like this writing style. Plus if, like me, your language doesn't give you an idea what the pronunciations/accents are supposed to sound like, the audiobook will definitely help!

If you're slightly confused by some of the events and context (particularly the American Colonization Society) then I'd recommend reading Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. Without it, I'm not sure I would have fully understood what was going on in some places, or the historical/political context. You don't necessarily need that context to enjoy this, but it helped me as a white person understand the depth of nuance behind what was going.

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