Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Black Cake

When I found out at the end that this was the first author's novel I was left speechless. What a delight! Every character's voice is distinctive and unique, they are complex and flawed, but over all of them, Covey's voice whenever she just took over in those letters, completely destroyed me and stood out the most. I could feel without fail all her love, pain and regrets and those were the paragraphs that broke me the most.

The story deals with topics such as immigration, racism, colourism, gambling issues, biphobia, sexual assault, domestic abuse, colonialism (specifically the West Indies-The UK, America and Spain) and its consequences even in the way the characters viewed their oppressors' land as full of opportunities and then became disillusioned and appalled by the bigotry and lies. It also deals with conflicts such as police brutality and abuse, the difficulties both women (just for being women sometimes) and men of colour face in the workfield; as well as how colourism and gender plays a big role in it.

But most of all it's a book about family history, heritage, feeling torn and at a crossroad with your identity (multiculturalism, hybridity, cultural assimilation, etc.), feeling lonely and ashamed by unfair things that happened to you (mostly women), white lies, safety and love. Above all. It's a book about love. A mother's love for her children. Family's love, friends' love, sibling's conflicts and love and romantic affection. Love for yourself, your safety and your life.

And: What are you willing to sacrifice for x?

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ivi_reads_books's review

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The book was very calming even though it depicted terrible things at times. I liked how the book offers a glimpse into life in the Caribbean and of Caribbeans emigrating to the UK in the 1970s and 80s.
A family of people who all have secrets discover through flashbacks what had happened in their mothers life.
The end of the book felt a little rushed. Every character got their ending quite quickly. I would have preferred a more open ending

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jlfields925's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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tetrootz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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valleysoshady's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I should have known from the jacket that it would be tough to read after experiencing the loss of a parent. And it was. So many themes. Emigration, community, belonging, racism, feminism, family dynamics, secrets, being different, and so much more.

It made me love my family more, consider my priviledge, reflect on my parents as immigrants alone in a new country, my heritage.

I loved all of the characters, their flaws, their strength, their damage and their triumphs. I loved the vein of politics and social justice, ever present and gracefully intertwined with the plot.

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