Reviews

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

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nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

kittykels's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'd recommend looking up content warnings before reading OR just being aware that this book tackles some difficult stuff. However, the story is gripping and beautifully told. The narrator was wonderful as well.

Content Warnings

dbuchheister's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.5

thelesbianlibrary's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

esisefakor's review against another edition

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5.0

This novel is life-filled, tackling issues women (especially with low socioeconomic status) face in Jamaica and the struggle to survive. The title, Here Comes the Sun throws you off the mood/tone of the story, but is highly illustrative of the ambiance of Jamaica, the sought after paradise. Having this story set in a place lauded for its laissez-faire attitude and synonymous with relaxation drives home the idea of "wherever you go there you are". The idea that certain attitudes and perspectives color the lens with which we experience a place, and is all about how we interact with these experiences and not the experiences themselves. So tourists, from their place of privilege can enjoy Jamaica as paradise, whereas Margot and her family members view it as a tiresome representation of lost opportunities. The characters deal with (and are sometimes perpetrators of) issues of poverty, racism, colorism, ageism, homophobia, and sexism, and somehow perceive that the solution to all this is escaping their "right now" (the present). You may not always like the characters, as they are flawed in such a human way, but you will understand them through their pain and desires. Great experience all around.

ossington's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

violetlionel's review against another edition

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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

lezreadalot's review against another edition

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4.0

She’s afraid she might drown. She remembers—too late—that Verdene had promised to teach her how to swim.

3.5 stars. An incredible read, and at the same time incredibly difficult to read. It skirts back and forth between just the type of thing that I've been yearning to read, and something that I'm not very interested in. But I ended up liking it.

We're mostly following Margot, a poor but ambitious worker at a hotel in her native Jamaica, and also the women who surround her: her secret lover Verdene, a village pariah recently returned from England; her mother Delores, who's known nothing but hard work all her life; and her little sister Thandi, on whose shoulders all her family's hopes rest. This was such a vivid portrayal of poverty; the way it's maintained and institutionalised by higher classes; the lengths to which people go to get out of it; the abuse and suffering that often surrounds it. There are so many things the book got, with pinpoint accuracy. I love reading books about and set in the Caribbean for lots of reasons, and one of them is being able to resonate with and identify with the language used and the images employed. In this case, I loved the descriptions of the river, community life, and just that scene where Thandi is sitting between Margot's legs getting her hair combed (with Blue Magic!!!!) and they're slapping away mosquitoes. Instant nostalgia. I also loved that this touched on colourism the skin-lightening epidemic, and all the ways black girls are taught to hate themselves and want to change themselves, to even believe that a better life is possible.

Dialect and slang used in books is my favourite thing ever, so that aspect was great, as well as seeing the code-switching that becomes second nature for some. I have to admit, I wished there was a little more consistency? Sometimes it would seem like a line of dialogue had been written completely in patois, and then someone went back and changed some things to standard English to make it more understandable, and as a result, a lot of dialogue read a bit awkwardly to me. Admittedly, this was probably necessary since, I guess, this is written for an international audience, and I'm not Jamaican so grain of salt, etc. But it was just noticeable, and some lines of dialogue felt like they didn't fit into the characters' mouths. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't totally in the author's control.

As afore-mentioned, this is a hard book to read, and gets downright bleak at times, which... you know me. I never enjoy that. But that's unavoidable, with some of the subjects this book tackles. I love seeing queer characters in Caribbean lit, but it also isn't easy. All of our characters are used very hard, and several of them get to be downright unlikeable. But it's such an honest book, which is what I liked most about it. It's difficult living in a world where slavery and colonialism are over, but the remnants of it still linger long, and are vividly felt (especially in the era this is set, the 1990s).

Really enjoyable, but ooof.

Content warnings:

Spoiler

racism, colourism, multiple instances of rape (mostly off page, with varying degrees explicitness) inclusive of child rape and corrective rape, sexual harassment and coercion, abuse, a bucketload of homophobia (internalised and otherwise)

elizabethgreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-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? No

3.5

Paraidise comes at a cost that is served by the locals. This book gives and honest look at upscale resorts being built by wealthy outsides and the effects it has on the people who live in the community. It shows the struggles that comes with making ends meet and the stark differences the locals see from what the tourist see.

It was hard to read about the sex work that the main character performs in order to pay the bills and provide for her little sister. The love and hurt the main sister experiences is both inspiring and heart breaking at the same time.

There is a look into sexuality and the bigotry and hate the same sex couples experience. This might be trigger for some readers. The discussions felt heartfelt and authentic.

Its to say I enjoyed the book (because of how tough the subject matter is to read) but i thought it was well written and I thought the ending was well done.

Content Warnings

saraisabel's review against another edition

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1.0

1 star feels harsh but i also hated every single part of this book

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