660 reviews for:

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake

Tiya Miles

4.12 AVERAGE

evybungus's review against another edition

4.0

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I really enjoyed this book. I think the way the author was able to find out so much information and write a compelling argument based on just the sack and the three lines written on it was really incredible. However, I think the writing style is not very accessible. I felt like it took me forever to understand and finish chapters, and even though what she was saying was compelling I think it is not accessible language for the general reader.

freetobme's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

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I didn’t realize this book would be so scholarly. I expected more story. Perhaps I even thought it was historical fiction. Thus it took me a while to get into it once I started. But eventually I did get into it.  

Interesting, challenging, thought-provoking, sad, poignant, insightful. 

silvermjay's review against another edition

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History book, not a historical fiction story 

jemeela_q's review against another edition

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I think would be better read as a hard copy. Found it hard to engage in the audiobook.

katetipp's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

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A powerful and dynamic look at slavery, particularly the experience of women in slavery. Miles is intelligent and artful and executed this book very well. She uses material artifacts (primarily a cotton sack passed down through generations) as a central theme and extrapolates various historical analyses about slavery in America specifically highlighting the perspective of Black women. A powerful look at atrocities that occurred throughout the country, particularly in the South, and the reverberation of both generational trauma and resiliency. This was a detailed and at times dense read and probably would have been best absorbed if I had spread it out over a couple of months. 

agillen93's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

labricoleuse's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

atomicyoghurt's review against another edition

0.5

reflective sad slow-paced

__nicole__'s review against another edition

4.5

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

alisonoreads's review against another edition

4.75

informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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An approachable history book that is as much about process as about enslavement and family. I loved this book and look forward to reading Miles’ other books.