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Nephthys drives an old Plymouth Belvedere around town, picking up people that need to go somewhere and ferrying them to their destination. Feeling lost ever since her twin brother was killed, she has drifted away from her family, her niece Amber who can see visions of people’s deaths and Amber’s son Dash, who has begun seeing visions of a man down by the river. When Amber sees a vision of Dash’s death, their three stories begin to intertwine back together.
Yejide utilizes folklore and fabulism to explore the very real struggles of one family and the ebbs and flows of familial relationships. The story winds between different characters so that we get time with all of them as we begin to understand more about how they relate to one another and the world at large. On top of the main characters, we also follow Osiris, Nephthys’ twin brother as he moves through a murky afterlife as well as the antagonist of the novel. Yejide’s lyrical prose as well as the distinct characters that populate this story make this a memorable and affecting tale as we also learn how the characters have impacted their wider community. This book deals with a lot of difficult subjects and there is a very large trigger warning for child abuse. Some of this book was very hard to read but all of the pieces come together to tell the full story of this community and this specific family. Harrowing, heartbreaking, and heartwarming all in one, ‘Creatures of Passage’ is an excellent novel that showcases the real talent of Yejide. I am fascinated to see what she writes next.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, War
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Minor: Drug use, Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, War
Graphic: Pedophilia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence
Graphic: Racism, Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Violence, Car accident, War
Minor: Suicide
The cultural background formed by mostly Gullah peoples making (or perhaps passing through) their lives in the poor DC neighborhood of Anacostia in what feels like an alternate-universe version of the United States but sometimes doesn't, woven through with various elements of what might be called urban fantasy or magical realism but so smoothly so that every weave clearly belongs right where it is, and told from a richly fluid word-of-mouth storyteller-historian point of view that here and there touches on the poetic, all delivers a rich story experience built on top of what it otherwise a relatively simple story.
Creatures of Passage is just different and odd enough that I don't know that I ever would have found it myself if I hadn't happened across its foggy blue cover in a LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway. I came to much appreciate my seconds minutes hours with it, though I had no way of knowing this at the time... ;-)
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Grief, Murder
Minor: Cursing, Suicide
Very poetically written and a beautifully performed audio book by the author. it is,also a book abort how badly adults can treat children at times and those on the fringes of society you may walk past on the street and discuss. Love thy neighbour we all need safe passage.
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse
It was a very challenging and unsettling read at times - content warning for child sexual abuse (including the abuser's perspective at several points, so please take care of yourself if that's not something you're ok to read), a range of mental health issues and substance use.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Murder, War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder