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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Edwidge Danticat is phenomenal. She writes in such a personal, heartbreaking way. This was a glimpse into a moment in Haitian history that all should attempt to grasp, and with Danticat, feel.
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fantastic historical fiction. I definitely want to read her others now…
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
challenging
sad
tense
medium-paced
The Dew Breaker reads like a dream, in both senses of the phrase (silky smooth, and like the nocturnal neuronal firings). More like a recurring dream in which every night you take the place of a different character and watch the same scene with different eyes. You have to let go of your usual waking-hours desire for continuity and consistency of characters.
The book is beautifully written, as I've come to expect from Danticat. Beautiful and nearly perfectly crafted. I've heard the story described as a "jigsaw puzzle", and that seems accurate. Danticat purposefully enshrouds the characters at the beginning of each chapter (by either using a vague "he" or "she" when a name could easily have been dropped in, or by making a character lose 80 pounds over time, so that descriptions of him in two different chapters do not allow for immediate recognition). Some might find this strategy jarring, or worse, a sign of an author who has failed at the Law of Consistency of characters. But I love Danticat's breaking of the rules of fiction, because it's so much more like real life, where people do change. Sometimes fundamentally. It adds to the dream-like quality of the book, and makes the reader do a bit of work to figure out who all the characters are and how they're related.
The book is not without flaws. I always finish Danticat novels wanting more. I want more characters, more plot, even more twists and turns. I just want her to keep writing forever. And no, that's not meant to be a "cute" criticism. Danticat doesn't seem to want, or know how, to really delve into the political situation in Haiti. It's not that I want more facts (I did spend some time with Wikipedia to get some background on the Duvalier dictatorship) I just didn't get much beyond what I found from a few paragraphs of wikipedia, and I would have expected more depth there. Perhaps another Macoutes character, other than the main one.
Also, there was a mistake somewhere in which Danticat referred to "the barber" when she meant to refer to "the prison guard" in a chapter, mixing up two time periods. I know, I know, this is a simple editing error, but one doesn't like to imagine an author getting confused by her own convoluted structure of timelines. Authors are Gods right? That's like ... calling one of your own children by the wrong name!? It's just not supposed to happen!
Yes, I am very demanding. But, FIVE STARS! so, all is forgiven.
The book is beautifully written, as I've come to expect from Danticat. Beautiful and nearly perfectly crafted. I've heard the story described as a "jigsaw puzzle", and that seems accurate. Danticat purposefully enshrouds the characters at the beginning of each chapter (by either using a vague "he" or "she" when a name could easily have been dropped in, or by making a character lose 80 pounds over time, so that descriptions of him in two different chapters do not allow for immediate recognition). Some might find this strategy jarring, or worse, a sign of an author who has failed at the Law of Consistency of characters. But I love Danticat's breaking of the rules of fiction, because it's so much more like real life, where people do change. Sometimes fundamentally. It adds to the dream-like quality of the book, and makes the reader do a bit of work to figure out who all the characters are and how they're related.
The book is not without flaws. I always finish Danticat novels wanting more. I want more characters, more plot, even more twists and turns. I just want her to keep writing forever. And no, that's not meant to be a "cute" criticism. Danticat doesn't seem to want, or know how, to really delve into the political situation in Haiti. It's not that I want more facts (I did spend some time with Wikipedia to get some background on the Duvalier dictatorship) I just didn't get much beyond what I found from a few paragraphs of wikipedia, and I would have expected more depth there. Perhaps another Macoutes character, other than the main one.
Also, there was a mistake somewhere in which Danticat referred to "the barber" when she meant to refer to "the prison guard" in a chapter, mixing up two time periods. I know, I know, this is a simple editing error, but one doesn't like to imagine an author getting confused by her own convoluted structure of timelines. Authors are Gods right? That's like ... calling one of your own children by the wrong name!? It's just not supposed to happen!
Yes, I am very demanding. But, FIVE STARS! so, all is forgiven.