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wiredtoread's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
minidutchie's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
lyraskirata's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
sneha_sarcar's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
bookdragonkatie's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-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
3.5
This was so interesting but hard for me to follow at times. I hope I will pick this up and try it again. I don’t think I was in the right headspace to appreciate it as much as I could have.
pip_tries_her_best's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
4.0
abbyblujay's review against another edition
Soooo slow I just couldn’t get into it. Also kind of hard to understand I ended up having to reread passages a lot
gus_reads's review against another edition
4.0
The summary of my review would be this:
- Soraya Palmer MASTERS the construction of realistic characters and relationship (family, friendships, romance)
- I am thankful for the opportunity to learn about Caribbean culture, and the struggles of first and second generation immigrants.
- Soraya Palmer writes beautifully about folklore/collective tales. I loved both that part of the book and the family drama, but for most of the story it was confusing for me how they worked together.
Thank you NetGalley and Serpent's Tail for the eARC. I wish Soraya Palmer all the success that she wishes for. I hope that she keeps writing and sharing her view of the world.
That being said, let me go into details:
- In many stories that include representation (racial, gender, queer) it feels kind of artificial: either too dramatic (devastating stories about suffering, many times based on true facts, but still, a bit of "pain porn") or too cheesy ("we can all EASILY love each other and accept ourselves!!!"). But this story is different. Soraya integrates the issues related to sensitive and underrepresented topics (gender, sexuality, trauma, mental health) with other parts of the personality of the characters and their stories. That's what make them so real to me. No person is only a category. I don't know, I really liked that - and it made me suffer a lot to, tbh. Many times I was tempted to research how much of the story was based on the author's life because, despite the magical realism, it all felt so true.
- As an outsider (I'm a woman, but white and European) I felt that I could learn a lot about Caribbean culture, not so much regarding the cultural facts (which you can always look up on Wikipedia or something) but the culture, the way of thinking and the struggles. However, it was always clear to me that I will never be able to speak on their behalf or fully understand what it's like to be in their skin. It is not (and will never be) my place to judge. The story made me feel not pity, but respect, empathy and compassion. I'm saying this because I believe it's hard to find the right way to cause that balanced effect on readers.
- Really, the mental health rep *chef kiss*
- Some dialogues are like phonetic transcriptions of the Caribbean/Trinidad way of speaking. As a person whose native language is not English, sometimes it was hard for me to fully understand what they meant. I believe it's important to keep the dialogues that way, but maybe it'd be helpful to include some footnotes, at least the first times, so that the reader can keep up with the story.
- The book grows on you and sometimes the reading experience is hard. The first part is good, the second... a bit less interesting and many times confusing, BUT THEN you reach the third part and you cannot stop reading because it all makes sense and you just want everyone to be happy or at least, at ease. Honestly I felt so connected to all of the characters, specially Beatrice and Sasha/Ash.
- Overall the book is fast-paced. Despite being emotionally charged, the story focuses on actions and not looooong descriptions or internal monologues. The thoughts and feelings of characters are described in a succinct way. However, Anansi tales are intertwined with the narration, which can be less interesting for readers who prefer more realistic novels. These tales do make sense as part of the story, but they are quite metaphoric and I'm really bad at deciphering metaphors.
- This books is NOT for everyone and you will need to be prepared to get in touch with your feelings and own traumas. PLEASE check the trigger warnings!! (TW: family abuse, homophobia, transphobia, violence -in all its forms-, death of a relative, suicide, abortion)
I honestly considered DNF this books many times, but when I stopped reading for a day or two, I kept thinking about the characters. I wanted to know more about them, I wanted to see if there was hope for them. I'm glad I kept reading.
- Soraya Palmer MASTERS the construction of realistic characters and relationship (family, friendships, romance)
- I am thankful for the opportunity to learn about Caribbean culture, and the struggles of first and second generation immigrants.
- Soraya Palmer writes beautifully about folklore/collective tales. I loved both that part of the book and the family drama, but for most of the story it was confusing for me how they worked together.
Thank you NetGalley and Serpent's Tail for the eARC. I wish Soraya Palmer all the success that she wishes for. I hope that she keeps writing and sharing her view of the world.
That being said, let me go into details:
- In many stories that include representation (racial, gender, queer) it feels kind of artificial: either too dramatic (devastating stories about suffering, many times based on true facts, but still, a bit of "pain porn") or too cheesy ("we can all EASILY love each other and accept ourselves!!!"). But this story is different. Soraya integrates the issues related to sensitive and underrepresented topics (gender, sexuality, trauma, mental health) with other parts of the personality of the characters and their stories. That's what make them so real to me. No person is only a category. I don't know, I really liked that - and it made me suffer a lot to, tbh. Many times I was tempted to research how much of the story was based on the author's life because, despite the magical realism, it all felt so true.
- As an outsider (I'm a woman, but white and European) I felt that I could learn a lot about Caribbean culture, not so much regarding the cultural facts (which you can always look up on Wikipedia or something) but the culture, the way of thinking and the struggles. However, it was always clear to me that I will never be able to speak on their behalf or fully understand what it's like to be in their skin. It is not (and will never be) my place to judge. The story made me feel not pity, but respect, empathy and compassion. I'm saying this because I believe it's hard to find the right way to cause that balanced effect on readers.
- Really, the mental health rep *chef kiss*
- Some dialogues are like phonetic transcriptions of the Caribbean/Trinidad way of speaking. As a person whose native language is not English, sometimes it was hard for me to fully understand what they meant. I believe it's important to keep the dialogues that way, but maybe it'd be helpful to include some footnotes, at least the first times, so that the reader can keep up with the story.
- The book grows on you and sometimes the reading experience is hard. The first part is good, the second... a bit less interesting and many times confusing, BUT THEN you reach the third part and you cannot stop reading because it all makes sense and you just want everyone to be happy or at least, at ease. Honestly I felt so connected to all of the characters, specially Beatrice and Sasha/Ash.
- Overall the book is fast-paced. Despite being emotionally charged, the story focuses on actions and not looooong descriptions or internal monologues. The thoughts and feelings of characters are described in a succinct way. However, Anansi tales are intertwined with the narration, which can be less interesting for readers who prefer more realistic novels. These tales do make sense as part of the story, but they are quite metaphoric and I'm really bad at deciphering metaphors.
- This books is NOT for everyone and you will need to be prepared to get in touch with your feelings and own traumas. PLEASE check the trigger warnings!! (TW: family abuse, homophobia, transphobia, violence -in all its forms-, death of a relative, suicide, abortion)
I honestly considered DNF this books many times, but when I stopped reading for a day or two, I kept thinking about the characters. I wanted to know more about them, I wanted to see if there was hope for them. I'm glad I kept reading.
ktopreads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cmqsf's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
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
3.5