Reviews

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

lani_loves's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

5.0

danielles_reads's review against another edition

DNF @ 72%

Forgot to write a review for this.

I was looking forward to reading this since I've heard a lot of good things about Beverly Jenkins, and I'm looking to expand my historical romance horizons past Courtney Milan lol. I thought the premise of this sounded really interesting, and I was looking forward to reading about two abolitionists on the Underground Railroad falling in love.

But ultimately, this fell into too many alpha male / innocent virginal female tropes for me. It was especially frustrating since it didn't make sense for a woman like Hester, who risked her life all the time saving others, to be portrayed as so naive that she doesn't even know what an orgasm face is, lol. I kept trying to give this book slack since it was published in the 90s and romance as a genre was a lot different then, but Galen kept bothering me more and more as he continually overstepped Hester's boundaries. Once he

humiliated her in church in front of everyone she knew and essentially forced her to marry him,

I knew I had to stop. Nothing he could do in the future would make up for that in my eyes. That crossed a line.

Additionally, I didn't love how the first intimate scene (not sex, but foreplay essentially) took place at 25% into the book. My favorite part of reading romance is the tension and pining, which isn't really felt when the two MCs "give in" to their attraction as it were at a quarter of the way into the book. Then it really just became a story of "when will she commit?" which is not very interesting to me. I also didn't like how there were so many sex scenes. I got tired of him sucking her nipples over and over again lol. I did like the scenes of them making mud pies together because it was nice to see them connecting as friends, but then it would be immediately followed by more nipple sucking lol.

Honestly, though, I don't regret trying this since, like I said, I'm trying to widen my horizons. I did learn more about the history of the romance genre from our Discord buddy read, which was great. I wouldn't mind reading more from Beverly Jenkins in the future either, but I will make sure to read her more recent work.

melanierae's review

A bit darker than her later stuff I’ve read, but the romance still has the dependable and sweet vibes I always enjoy from her 

aly_camia's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

becca_todaro's review against another edition

3.0

Finally finished this, it just dragged on and on, I was bored, I hope not all of her books are this dry and stilted 

mothgirlie's review

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

aqtbenz's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Slavery, Death, and Sexual content

tishingtonplunk's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful informative lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

ericas_bookshelf's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Easily the greatest historical romance I’ve ever read. This is the kind of love story that so impactful, it will remain in your heart and soul for the rest of your days. That may sound dramatic, but I swear it’s not. Galen & Hester have insane chemistry, and are true soul mates. They are now in my hall of fame of favorite book couples of all time, truly. 

This story is so complex, multifacted, & rich with history (particularly the important role Black abolitionists played in the fight against slavery, which was beyond impactful and moving). The way this story and all its characters are handled is done with such great care and respect. Beverly put her entire heart and soul into this, like she does with all her books honestly, but it’s easy to see why Indigo is one of her most famous works. 


"You were in my dreams last night." 
She quietly confessed, "I dream of you sometimes, too."

tiptoebytulips's review against another edition

5.0

Wow! This is officially one of my favorite romance novels and I don’t read romance, or at least historical romance, too often. This was my first time reading a book by Beverly Jenkins and it did not disappoint. I loved the romance between Hester and Galen. Their scenes together had me swooning. I wasn’t sure how a romance with the theme of slavery set in the background would work but it did in this novel. Although the trope of rich, womanizing man and poor, virginal woman is very fairytale-ish and not as realistic, I did enjoy the escapism of it all because Hester definitely deserved to be swept off her feet and fall in love. Hester was such a caring and strong character and I loved her for that and especially her role in helping former slaves get to freedom. I also loved Galen and his “Black Daniel” alter ego to help former slaves escape. I felt that their heroism and dedication to help others helped to make Hester and Galen a perfect match. Their chemistry was amazing and I loved how much Galen was devoted and loving towards Hester. This novel also had some great side characters and side plots. The novel did seem to take a turn in another direction about halfway through towards the ending with a little rush of events and a few paragraphs dropped in about some history that took place during the time period but overall I was happy that Hester and Galen got their happy ending. I’ll definitely be checking out more of the author’s work. 5 stars!