Reviews

On occasion, the writing feels like it’s trying a tad too hard to be literary and falling just short of the mark—metaphors and other imagery reaching but not quite working, for example. However, overall the book is fantastic and I want to read more from this author.

slhandy45's review against another edition

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5.0

A fascinating glimpse into the history of racism in LA with beautifully rich characterizations of the main players in this moving story.

kitnotmarlowe's review against another edition

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4.25

Oh, this DISEMBOWELLED me.

Southland was my introduction to Nina Revoyr, and, to be honest, I put off reading it a few times because the cover is a real stinker. I like the concept, but it's just so incredibly beige, which looks worse in black and white on my Kindle screen. I'm super unfamiliar with the history behind the Watts Riots and the different LA neighbourhoods at play, not being American, and generally regarding people* from LA as an entirely different genus of human (I spent half an hour in LAX before driving to Disneyland a decade ago. Truly, there is no earthly sum you could pay to spend time in Los Angeles). I'd say if you're not already familiar with some of the history, maybe read a Wikipedia page or maybe look at a map, but you aren't going to be up shit creek without a paddle if you don't.

The writing I found to be unilaterally fine. It's a bit tell-y and doesn't trust its readers as much as it could, but there's nothing wrong with it on a technical level. The main reason why it's getting a 4.25 instead of a 5 is that it lacks oomph. Revoyr tells a powerful story, but her prose isn't weighty enough.

All the emotional beats hit. They really hit. Toward the end, I didn't cry, but I did groan like a wounded animal. Unfortunately, the story is a bit crowded in a way that both works and doesn't. It does a great service to the setting by allowing readers to truly feel the textures of the communities it depicts. You really understand the way the characters were living around and nearly on top of each other, the fine layer of dust over the past that's hardly past. Unfortunately, I do think it would have benefited from a family tree. I'm aware that an accurate one would involve spoilers, but you could map out the past three generations of Jackie's family at the front and then show how the two families intersect at the back. Occasionally in the flashbacks, it wasn't entirely clear how the point-of-view characters (and there are a bunch, some only for a chapter or two) were related to our present-day characters.

One of the things that I thought made this novel stand out was the way the legal drama is handled; it's introduced fairly late, and I worried we were at risk of a trial speedrun.

There is no trial and no justice, which serves the plot thematically.

And it ties in nicely with Jackie being a law student, showcasing both her idealism with regards to changing the system from the inside out and how out of touch she is with any racial issues, even the ones that directly impact her and her family.

If I had a nickel for every Asian-American family saga I've read where the main legal drama revolves around someone locked in a meat freezer, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.