Scan barcode
thecriticalreader's review
emotional
reflective
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Review:
It’s hard to believe that Phillip B. Williams’s Ours began as a short story; this nearly six-hundred-page expansive debut is incredibly ambitious, spanning several decades and following a large cast of characters within the fictional town of Ours, Missouri. At the center of Ours is a Black conjurer named Saint, who uses her magic to free hundreds of enslaved people from their plantations. In 1834, she leads a group of recently freed formerly enslaved people to a town near St. Louis, Missouri, where she establishes a protected haven for them in which to live. Her spells prevent anyone who might cause the town harm from finding it or entering its borders, and she makes sure that the townspeople are materially provided for. The town of Ours is a haven, but it is far from a paradise: Saint’s magic sometimes goes awry, and her relationship with the residents of Ours reveals a person who is miles away from living up to her moniker. As the interpersonal and supernatural dramas of Ours unfold over the course of many decades, Williams boldly interrogates our conceptions of what freedom really means.
For a more conventional storyteller, the beginning of Ours would be the happily-ever-after resolution. After all, what more could a freed person want than a town in which to raise a family, grow old in, protected indefinitely from the insidious external forces of white supremacy? What more, indeed. Despite the book’s fantastical nature, in many ways the town of Ours feels like a realistic portrayal of what a post-slavery Black community might look like. Williams leans hard into the joys of family, friendship, and self-sufficiency—but leans harder into the messy heartbreak borne out of unerasable trauma and human fallibility as the residents of Ours navigate their freedom and its limitations.
Williams’s background as a poet shines through in Ours, as every page soaks in lyrical, poetic language that lends a special poignancy to the story. The combination of the breathtakingly beautiful prose, carefully crafted character moments, and imaginative worldbuilding leads to countless scenes worthy of a modern classic.
For all of its strengths, there is no getting around the fact that Ours is nearly six hundred pages long. Some readers will rejoice in their ability to spend so much time steeped in Williams’ language and complex characters, while others will feel dismayed at the meandering plot that dances toward its resolution at a molasses-slow pace. While the epic nature of Ourslends the story a welcome gravitas and allows Williams to fully explore his themes and characters, the story he tells does not need 580 pages to be told. Certain repeated turns of phrase or character moments give the reader an unwelcome sense of déja vû, and the choice to tie the story into the present day feels unnecessary and unjustified.
Ours borrows from African spirituality and folklore to craft a unique and fascinating story that is both epic and contained in scope. It teaches us that freedom is a necessity for human prospering (this, we already know), but that it is equally a terrifying state in which one’s choices have consequences for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities.
The Run-Down:
You will probably like Ours if . . .
· You want to read an epic tale that follows multiple characters through a long time period
· You like stories with complex, morally gray characters
· You appreciate a book that has poetic and lyrical writing
· You want to read a book that creatively explores themes of trauma, interpersonal relationships, and freedom
You might not like Ours if . . .
· You want a historical fantasy book that features multiple real events/people/locations in United States history (Oursis a quite contained novel, with the vast majority of the book taking place in one fictional town)
· You aren’t in the mood for a long and slow-paced story
· You like magic systems to be explained
· You prefer straightforward writing and dialogue
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Racism
Moderate: Hate crime, Infertility, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Cursing
Minor: Animal death, War, Torture, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, and Sexual content
More...