Scan barcode
heathergillis's review
3.0
Scatterlings tells the story of how one family was affected by the passing of the Immorality Act in South Africa, which banned interracial relationships. We meet Dido and Emilie first, the mixed race children of Abram and Alisa. Abram is a white man and Alisa is a black woman who was raised in England by adoptive parents. The story examines what it means to belong to a place, to a family, to a tribe, from each character's perspective. The writing is beautiful and the story is heartbreakingly sad. While I appreciated the writing and the premise was interesting, I felt the story was a bit disjointed and I never really connected with it.
heathergillis's review against another edition
3.0
Scatterlings tells the story of how one family was affected by the passing of the Immorality Act in South Africa, which banned interracial relationships. We meet Dido and Emilie first, the mixed race children of Abram and Alisa. Abram is a white man and Alisa is a black woman who was raised in England by adoptive parents. The story examines what it means to belong to a place, to a family, to a tribe, from each character's perspective. The writing is beautiful and the story is heartbreakingly sad. While I appreciated the writing and the premise was interesting, I felt the story was a bit disjointed and I never really connected with it.
sonnymirrors's review against another edition
4.0
Scatterlings read like a resurrection of the dead, and an unearthing of the past. An elegy. A song for ancestors. Naming the journeys from the past that got us here. Tracing legacies. Emotional like those long lost loved ones and the tragedies that might have taken those who were never found. Khumbulekhaya!
A celebration of nature and the infusion thereof in African mythology, space and the stars, the mundane and the extraordinary. This is us. This is our story. Across racial and cultural boundaries. Scatterlings is where it all meets.
Dido, incredible insightful. Childhood innocence and brilliance. Compassion, inquisitive and sharp. To observe and wonder, why and how. She is the eyes and the conscience. A reminder of the human, hear, somebody died, somebody survived. To live with the trauma but to remember, to heal, against the erasure. To hold so that a book like scatterlings can be. Self-reflection heart. Soul-stirring. Vindicated. Found
A celebration of nature and the infusion thereof in African mythology, space and the stars, the mundane and the extraordinary. This is us. This is our story. Across racial and cultural boundaries. Scatterlings is where it all meets.
Dido, incredible insightful. Childhood innocence and brilliance. Compassion, inquisitive and sharp. To observe and wonder, why and how. She is the eyes and the conscience. A reminder of the human, hear, somebody died, somebody survived. To live with the trauma but to remember, to heal, against the erasure. To hold so that a book like scatterlings can be. Self-reflection heart. Soul-stirring. Vindicated. Found
gypsynyx91's review
emotional
sad
fast-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
4.5
trippalli's review
2.5
I got a bit lost in the changing time perspectives but it's a sad and reflective story based in history . I was quite invested in the survivors story at first but I got distracted and disinterested as the story continued, which I goes reflects as poorly on me as the book.. But I wasn't in a good place to appreciate a slow and sad historic fiction right now, which was disappointing as I was really intrigued by the story overview.
kristen_howe's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
3.0
nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I read this book over the span of nearly six months, which is an incredibly long time to be reading such a short novel. Indeed, I kept putting it down and feeling no real pull to pick it back up. However, each time I did return to it, I found that I had surprisingly strong recall of the events and stories that had preceded the current reading session, which is almost certainly a testament to Manenzhe’s skillful, poetic writing and character building.
Indeed, I was pulled into the construction of mythology and the stark differences among Alisa and her depression, Abram and his disappointment, and Dido and her curiosity. Each of these three characters and their perspectives brought a greater depth to the story as it explored racism, history, mental health, marriage, mythology, and parenthood. The integration of South African mythology and the impact of sexual morality laws in this period was deft and intriguing, but I lost track of a lot of the stories and names as I was reading.
Indeed, I was pulled into the construction of mythology and the stark differences among Alisa and her depression, Abram and his disappointment, and Dido and her curiosity. Each of these three characters and their perspectives brought a greater depth to the story as it explored racism, history, mental health, marriage, mythology, and parenthood. The integration of South African mythology and the impact of sexual morality laws in this period was deft and intriguing, but I lost track of a lot of the stories and names as I was reading.
uvahoogirl's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5