Reviews with content warning for Racism - The House of Eve

It is very clear that Mrs.Johnson does VERY THROUGH research when writing historical fiction and are we not truly thankful for that?

Again, I am stunned. ‘Yellow Wife’ made me a fan but ‘The House of Eve’ has made me a Stan 😩. This story was beautiful, but heartbreaking. I felt for Eleanor but Ruby, I wanted to embrace her in a way her mother couldn’t.

This has been my best read so far this year. Can’t wait for what Mrs.Johnson has in store for us next…

Content Warnings

lilreiko88's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

bek67's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

Second book of Sadeqa Johnson's I've read and it does not disappoint. I loved both main characters Ruby, a teenager who is smart and hopes to attend college, and Eleanor, a college student whose parents sacrificed a lot to get her there. My favorite quote from the book: "Knowing about racism and being abused by its wrath were two different things."

I also loved the fact there is a very small (but not insignificant) tie-in to characters from her book Yellow Wife.

The author's note at the end is definitely worth the read. She describes where the fictional characters of the book came from as well as background on the real life characters. Fascinating info.

Content Warnings

kayjchan95's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

katietotallybooked's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

From the Author’s Note:
“I wrote this book for women like Georgia Mae, my grandmother Yvonne Clair, my great-grandmother Addie Murray and every woman who was forced to surrender her child either because of race, age, sexual abuse, shame or coer-cion. You are not alone. The House of Eve is for you.”

I picked this book up because it was an in person book club pick. I knew little about it going in, and honestly I did not expect to love it so much!

Positives:

Engaging writing
Dual perspective, with dual audio narration!
Based on experiences from real women
An emotional read with some gut wrenching parts
I was hooked early on and I wanted to keep turning the pages to see how it would all turn out for Ruby and Eleanor

Negatives:

that it took until the ending to make it a five star read (but at least it got there!) The author's note and the epilogue actually sealed the deal for me.

Topics/Themes:

Motherhood
Black History
Pregnancy
Racism
Classism

I'd Recommend To:

Book Clubs
Historical fiction readers, especially those interest in Black and/or women's history
Audiobook listeners (the narration is fantastic!)

Quotes:
"I hope the man she [Georgia Mae] worked for wouldn't touch her again, but I also knew that hope had never gotten any of us very far. " p.324

Content Warnings

smkelly1997's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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 was continuously drawn in throughout this book. It was hard to but down, heartbreaking, and yet an amazing read. I loved the intertwining and parallels between Ruby and Eleanor.

Content Warnings

zthebibliophile's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

erickaonpaper's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.25

a near perfect historical fiction.

Content Warnings

More...