Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

5 reviews

rieviolet's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

I picked up this book at my library on a whim and I ended up pleasantly surprised. It is a really engaging story and it also feels very fresh, like nothing I've read before. 

It is told in a dual POV and I have to admit I was particularly drawn to Darwin's chapters (compared to the ones in Yejide's perspective). His narrative voice is just so strong and captivating, it was honestly beautiful to witness his character development.  

The writing is very atmospheric and the author does a great job of building and breathing life into the spaces that these characters inhabit.

I didn't like a short segment in Yejide's POV where the writing got a bit too experimental for my liking, it felt too fragmented and stream of consciousness-like. Also, I would have liked a bit more of exploration into Yejide's character and the gift connected to her lineage. 

However, these are minor grievances, overall I really enjoyed the reading experience and I look forward to Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's future projects.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Slavery, Bullying, and Body horror

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Sexism, Drug use, Cursing, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Child death, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Torture

rokinjaguar's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Interesting! Had some cool ideas and was well done, but didn’t fully live up to its potential, I felt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment and Cursing

Minor: Child death, Bullying, and Slavery

auudrey's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Abandonment

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

badmom's review

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Murder, Alcohol, and Abandonment