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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Thank you to Knopf for my copy. My opinions are my own.
The morning after Carnival, Sora Tanaka--a visiting professional musician from Japan--is found brutally murdered in a field on the Caribbean island of St. Colibri. And she's not the first. The problem is so bad that a special police unit has been established (the Office for Murdered Women), but it's headed by a man who seems less concerned with murdered women than he should be. This is the spark that sets the island's women ablaze, and we follow four women as they fan the flames and find unexpected ways to help each other.
I was immediately struck by the rhythm of the narrative and dialogue--the vast majority (when from the St. Colibrian's perspectives) are written in a more Caribbean, more musical rhythm. Roffey impressed me from the first with her skill at portraying dialect so strongly, yet in such a way as to not interrupt the story. I remember Mark Twain as the first such author I was impressed by, and she has improved on his craft. And the story itself was unashamed, tragic, and revealing. The author's note leads me to believe that these events are based on an all-too-true reality of rampant and unpunished femicide. I was horrified by the ineptitude and the egoism of the men in charge--including those whose responsibility it was to bring the killer to justice and prevent further murders. This book certainly doesn't let them off the hook, and made me reflect that all women have our own stories, no matter the walk of life that we travel.
The morning after Carnival, Sora Tanaka--a visiting professional musician from Japan--is found brutally murdered in a field on the Caribbean island of St. Colibri. And she's not the first. The problem is so bad that a special police unit has been established (the Office for Murdered Women), but it's headed by a man who seems less concerned with murdered women than he should be. This is the spark that sets the island's women ablaze, and we follow four women as they fan the flames and find unexpected ways to help each other.
I was immediately struck by the rhythm of the narrative and dialogue--the vast majority (when from the St. Colibrian's perspectives) are written in a more Caribbean, more musical rhythm. Roffey impressed me from the first with her skill at portraying dialect so strongly, yet in such a way as to not interrupt the story. I remember Mark Twain as the first such author I was impressed by, and she has improved on his craft. And the story itself was unashamed, tragic, and revealing. The author's note leads me to believe that these events are based on an all-too-true reality of rampant and unpunished femicide. I was horrified by the ineptitude and the egoism of the men in charge--including those whose responsibility it was to bring the killer to justice and prevent further murders. This book certainly doesn't let them off the hook, and made me reflect that all women have our own stories, no matter the walk of life that we travel.
The women on this island are probably some of the most resilient and strong people I have ever met via fiction. However, even though this book is fictional, it has real life implications is an issue that has been happening I remember one time I saw this TikTok of this woman who said that women are the only species in the world that make with their predators. There’s just something that I can't ever forget about that.
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An almost-detective story that quickly turned into something else entirely...felt like a call to arms, and it is slightly heavy handed in places but still, I was ready to go on that protest along with them as I read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Murder
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I quite liked this, the moments of optimism, the coalition-building. it was so painful at the end when we realize that Tara has disappeared and almost certainly been killed -- it felt like a very realistic and heartbreaking postscript to the activism of the women throughout the book. that said, I felt weird about the fact that this story is aligning very closely with a real-life murder.