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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn’t like the ghosts part. I like the backstory that the ghost element provided, but I could’ve done without.
Characters were good and the language used by the author paints a great picture.
There isn’t really an ending.
Characters were good and the language used by the author paints a great picture.
There isn’t really an ending.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not good for emetephobic 🤣😭
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
A bit slow at first but very good
I went into this book blind and was pleasantly surprised for a number of reasons. I found Jesmyn's prose so tender that it led me softly through some very troubled family dynamics and uncomfortable truths.
We’re first introduced to a young boy Jojo, who has dutiful, strong, sensitive. He looks after his little sister Kayla, looks up to his grandparents, and is scared of his own mother. The plot then unfolds in a skipping-stone effect hopping from person to person, chapter by chapter. I was always eager to get to the next, full of questions, seeking explanations and justifications for their behaviour. I didn’t even find myself favouring a particular voice.
Past and present are also interwoven, grandparents passing down stories and wisdom, and through the family you understand the way racism has shaped their lives, not only through the prejudice and injustice they faced but also through inherited trauma.
I would trust anything written by Jesmyn now, and want more more more.
We’re first introduced to a young boy Jojo, who has dutiful, strong, sensitive. He looks after his little sister Kayla, looks up to his grandparents, and is scared of his own mother. The plot then unfolds in a skipping-stone effect hopping from person to person, chapter by chapter. I was always eager to get to the next, full of questions, seeking explanations and justifications for their behaviour. I didn’t even find myself favouring a particular voice.
Past and present are also interwoven, grandparents passing down stories and wisdom, and through the family you understand the way racism has shaped their lives, not only through the prejudice and injustice they faced but also through inherited trauma.
I would trust anything written by Jesmyn now, and want more more more.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My goodness, talk about exquisite writing. I was knocked out by how good, how beautiful, how heartwrenching the writing was, not to mention the story itself. There are three voices in this story: Jojo, a 13-year-old boy; Leonie, his mom; and Richie, a specter that Jojo can see and hear. He is a ghost from Jojo's grandpa's days at a prison when he was a young man. Jojo is not the only one with this gift of the supernatural, his mom has it, too, but only when she's high. She is visited by her brother, Given, who was shot on a hunting trip.
The story doesn't cover much time in the present, though we get stories of the past told by Pop about his time in prison and the story of Richie. We get the story of Given, and we get some of the story of Pop and Mam, who is now dying of cancer. There is a road trip to the same prison that Pop had been in to retrieve Michael, Jojo's father and Leonie's number one concern (over her two kids). There is meth and abuse, there are supernatural gifts that seem completely normal, there is ache and love, there is death and deliverance. It is a remarkable triumph of what words can do.
The story doesn't cover much time in the present, though we get stories of the past told by Pop about his time in prison and the story of Richie. We get the story of Given, and we get some of the story of Pop and Mam, who is now dying of cancer. There is a road trip to the same prison that Pop had been in to retrieve Michael, Jojo's father and Leonie's number one concern (over her two kids). There is meth and abuse, there are supernatural gifts that seem completely normal, there is ache and love, there is death and deliverance. It is a remarkable triumph of what words can do.