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gmamartha's review against another edition
3.0
Nominated by the middle school kids of the Eva Perry Mock Newbery book club this year, the historical setting and details give these characters their motives for their choices.
dsbressette's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent book, not just an excellent book for younger readers. Westrick paints such a clear picture of the events in this book. The characters are believable and fully fleshed out. Highly recommend 4.5/5 stars
calypsogilstrap's review against another edition
3.0
Super cool that it takes place in Richmond but it draggggggggged on! Loved the end though. Great main character coming of age story during Reconstruction in the South. Excellent young adult novel with the same themes of Go Set a Watchmen.
oceanwader's review against another edition
3.0
A compelling story, on a perspective of the U.S. Civil War that needs to be told more often.
In general, I agree with most reviewers' comments who gave it a high rating, and for the first half of the book, I thought it to be a four-star effort.
However, one critical feature of Shadrach's thought process didn't ring true and it happened to be one that the author took care to utilize time and time again.
Once someone realizes or learns something they hadn't known before, vacillation between their new view of reality and their old one very quickly, if not immediately, dissipates. That is, one cannot un-know something just because one would like to go back to ignorance. One cannot return to the way things were before the rose-coloured glasses were removed - not without deliberate effort to deny the facts.
As revealed in the first half of The Brotherhood, Shadrach was initially attracted to and supported the Brotherhood (KKK) because it helped him 'feel like a man' and gave him, for the first time, a sense of belonging. Fine. Makes sense given his family life, including a brutal older brother, acute poverty, and the burning resentments of 1867 Richmond.
But then, Shadrach witnesses the KKK's brutal, sinister side - including a murder - and was horrified by it. Despite that, the author has Shadrach vacillating too many times to count between supporting and rejecting the Brotherhood.
Shadrach's vacillating was the focal point of the latter half of the book. It felt like the author was just trying to fill pages and it became so tiresome, so stretching credibility, that I was tempted to put the book aside. In the end, I think the author did a disservice to his character. He had drawn Shadrach as being nothing like the brother, but instead being bright, thoughtful, even kind. A character such as that wouldn't take half a book to get it right.
In general, I agree with most reviewers' comments who gave it a high rating, and for the first half of the book, I thought it to be a four-star effort.
However, one critical feature of Shadrach's thought process didn't ring true and it happened to be one that the author took care to utilize time and time again.
Once someone realizes or learns something they hadn't known before, vacillation between their new view of reality and their old one very quickly, if not immediately, dissipates. That is, one cannot un-know something just because one would like to go back to ignorance. One cannot return to the way things were before the rose-coloured glasses were removed - not without deliberate effort to deny the facts.
As revealed in the first half of The Brotherhood, Shadrach was initially attracted to and supported the Brotherhood (KKK) because it helped him 'feel like a man' and gave him, for the first time, a sense of belonging. Fine. Makes sense given his family life, including a brutal older brother, acute poverty, and the burning resentments of 1867 Richmond.
But then, Shadrach witnesses the KKK's brutal, sinister side - including a murder - and was horrified by it. Despite that, the author has Shadrach vacillating too many times to count between supporting and rejecting the Brotherhood.
Shadrach's vacillating was the focal point of the latter half of the book. It felt like the author was just trying to fill pages and it became so tiresome, so stretching credibility, that I was tempted to put the book aside. In the end, I think the author did a disservice to his character. He had drawn Shadrach as being nothing like the brother, but instead being bright, thoughtful, even kind. A character such as that wouldn't take half a book to get it right.
jillcd's review against another edition
3.0
I would give this a 3.5. I enjoyed the book and loved that the author tackled a very difficult topic.
aprilbooksandwine's review against another edition
4.0
I love it when fiction books make bits of history that always seemed so boring come to life. I will admit that I will almost always choose a book about the Civil War over a book about Reconstruction EVERY SINGLE TIME, even though you could probably say that Reconstruction is Civil War history as it happened because of the Civil War. Regardless. A.B. Westrick really impressed me with her debut middle grade novel Brotherhood, a book set in post-Civil War Richmond, Virginia. It does a great job capturing the different factors and sentiments of the South at the time and just, I don’t know, it makes the era seem so interesting.
Read the rest of my review here
Note: Review goes live and link will work on February 17, 2014
Read the rest of my review here
Note: Review goes live and link will work on February 17, 2014
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
4.0
Honest look at the personal and family conflict after the Civil War.
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