Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Here Comes the Sun

I am conflicted of this book. On one hand it is well-written, the characters are interesting and the description of the environment is immersive. On the other hand there is no sense of direction for the majority of the book. The characters just get worse and worse and get into shittier and shittier situation, but it is unclear until close to the end whether this solves any purpose.

Content Warnings

shoshthemost's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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midnightmarauder's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Despite the colorful, light-hearted book cover and title, this novel is anything but.

Here Comes the Sun follows Margot, a woman living in the fictional town of River Bank, Jamaica. She lives in a shack with her mother, Delores, sister Thandi, and senile grandmother Merle. By day, she works the front desk of a hotel, but by night, she

doubles as a prostitute

, working to make a better life for both herself and her sister, Thandi.

Her second occupation is not the only secret she hides, however; she is also in a romantic relationship with a woman named Verdene, the town's pariah.

What I liked about the novel was that it covered many themes. Some of the main themes covered include colorism, generational trauma/curses, classism, gentrification, and lesbophobia. The central theme in the book seems to be generational curses and the effect it has on people in adulthood.

Margot was born when Delores was fourteen years old, and

it is implied that she was conceived by rape

. This caused Delores to resent Margot her entire life, never showing her any love or affection. Later, when Margot was in her early teen years, Delores

sold her to men for money. Delores also stated that she did it to "fix her", because Margot had expressed an early attraction to Verdene.

This early trauma leads Margot into hypersexuality as an adult,

thus sprouting her career in prostitution

.

It is implied that Delores went through similar treatment at the hands of her mother, Merle. So, the generational curse continued to be passed down.

Margot's overall goal is to make it to the top so that she can leave River Bank in the rearview, along with the trauma she faced growing up. But, the things she has to do to get there don't sit well with her, ultimately eating her up so much that she

ends up getting away from River Bank, but at the expense of the ones she loved

.

Nicole Dennis-Benn did a wonderful job at developing the characters. Authors can sometimes make their protagonists either too flawed or not flawed enough. Nicole found the right mix for each character she created.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It was heartbreaking, yet kept me continuously flipping to the next page, anticipating what would happen next.

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tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

The cover is deceiving. This is probably one of the most hopeless and depressing books I've ever read. Also highly recommend checking content warnings for this one.

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asphodel04's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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cheesepuppy's review against another edition

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4.5

Multigenerational

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eleven_hummingbird's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Exploring themes of violence, wealth, and autonomy, Here Comes the Sun follows two sisters and their abusive mother through the slums and resorts of Jamaica. With elegant prose, the characters are brought to life with engaging dialogue and palpable emotions.
Sexual and domestic violence are a paramount theme throughout. Margot's narrative largely follows her struggle to climb above hotel work and prostitution, while also balancing the weight of family and her romantic interest, the latter expanding into a major narrative exploring saphism and homophobia. Most of the female cast have histories of sexual violence, which plays importance throughout.
Wealth, or lackthereof, is another major theme. The impoverished backgrounds of most of the cast is starkly contrasted with the wealth of foreigners and the tourism industry, further split by the overlap of language, class, and skin color.
Impelled to be successful by her mother, who scrapes a living selling trinkets to tourists, Margot passes on most of her earnings towards her sister's education, while Thandi herself struggles to find her own identity and desires.
The conflict of sacrifice and blame between the family ultimately coalesces into an underlying question of autonomy.
A very good debut novel.

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