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amandadevoursbooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? No
4.5
Remember when you were a teenager, and you were out of the house for the first few times. You were hanging out with your friends, no adults, no rules, just a wide-open sky and future. Remember those conversations. The ones that shifted and danced. The ones half unsaid. This book was like those possibility-filled nights. The narrative structure shifts and moves, often without me noticing. Because of this, this book is not going to be for everyone. I savored it.
The book has two separate story lines. The first follows Cinnamon, and the second follows the wanderer (an alien) from the 1890s to 1980s in a story within the story.
Cinnamon, a glamazon, is tall, big Black queer theater teen in the 1980s. Her dad, Raven, is in a coma. Her mom is coming unraveled between the violence that disabled her husband and the death of her oldest child's from an over dose.
We meet Cinnamon and her large family at her Sekou's funeral. We follow her to a theater audition where she meets new friends who may be more than friends. Cinnamon holds out hope that her dad will wake up, and she just might have the power to help him return to his body.
Taiwo, the wanderer, meets Kehinde, falls in love, and they travel first to find Kehinde's dead brother's wife and child, and second to get a new life in Chicago, USA. Their story line is a travelog filled with aje (demons), magic, love, betrayal, and murder.
Taken together, the magic spills from the pages. From Sekou's ghost to lightning hands and one scattered soul, reading this book is like walking through the most interesting curio shop you have ever seen.
I enjoyed this book. At the times, the pacing was a little slow, but it made sense to be slow. At times, I felt like I missed the plot or a characterization, but the disorientation ADDED to the novel. If you like Black Speculative fiction and you enjoy odd books, you might like this one.
The book has two separate story lines. The first follows Cinnamon, and the second follows the wanderer (an alien) from the 1890s to 1980s in a story within the story.
Cinnamon, a glamazon, is tall, big Black queer theater teen in the 1980s. Her dad, Raven, is in a coma. Her mom is coming unraveled between the violence that disabled her husband and the death of her oldest child's from an over dose.
We meet Cinnamon and her large family at her Sekou's funeral. We follow her to a theater audition where she meets new friends who may be more than friends. Cinnamon holds out hope that her dad will wake up, and she just might have the power to help him return to his body.
Taiwo, the wanderer, meets Kehinde, falls in love, and they travel first to find Kehinde's dead brother's wife and child, and second to get a new life in Chicago, USA. Their story line is a travelog filled with aje (demons), magic, love, betrayal, and murder.
Taken together, the magic spills from the pages. From Sekou's ghost to lightning hands and one scattered soul, reading this book is like walking through the most interesting curio shop you have ever seen.
I enjoyed this book. At the times, the pacing was a little slow, but it made sense to be slow. At times, I felt like I missed the plot or a characterization, but the disorientation ADDED to the novel. If you like Black Speculative fiction and you enjoy odd books, you might like this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Slavery, Suicide, Body shaming, Homophobia, Gun violence, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and Murder
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
slow-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
3.0
Thanks to Tor Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- WILL DO MAGIC FOR SMALL CHANGE is a wildly imaginative and ambitious story within a story, braiding characters and plotlines from 1893 and 1987 together. It's something like a cross between Octavia E. Butler and Nalo Hopkinson, maybe with a dash of Nicky Drayden.
- I found myself more compelled by the 1800s story than the 1980s story, even though I thought Cinnamon was a great character. I think that historical plotline was just better paced for me. The modern plot often had 20 or so pages of conversation pinging between half a dozen characters while nothing much happened, and then a big pivotal moment would occur in a space of a sentence or two.
- I didn't realize until after I started reading it that this book is a companion to REDWOOD AND WILDFIRE, and while I could figure it out well enough, the characters were constantly referencing people and events from that book, so I wish I'd read it first.
- WILL DO MAGIC FOR SMALL CHANGE is a wildly imaginative and ambitious story within a story, braiding characters and plotlines from 1893 and 1987 together. It's something like a cross between Octavia E. Butler and Nalo Hopkinson, maybe with a dash of Nicky Drayden.
- I found myself more compelled by the 1800s story than the 1980s story, even though I thought Cinnamon was a great character. I think that historical plotline was just better paced for me. The modern plot often had 20 or so pages of conversation pinging between half a dozen characters while nothing much happened, and then a big pivotal moment would occur in a space of a sentence or two.
- I didn't realize until after I started reading it that this book is a companion to REDWOOD AND WILDFIRE, and while I could figure it out well enough, the characters were constantly referencing people and events from that book, so I wish I'd read it first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content and Rape
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