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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
This book was heavy and heartbreaking, with bits of magic and poetry. Telling the story of a family that is broken by institutionalized racism and police violence, the author shows us how they are handling life 15 years after this senseless act of violence. Told from alternating perspectives, we get an intimate look at how each person handles grief in their own way.
While I liked reading some perspectives more than others, they all came together with beautiful imagery to tell a story of hope and loss and resilience. This story broke my heart, and will not soon be forgotten.
While I liked reading some perspectives more than others, they all came together with beautiful imagery to tell a story of hope and loss and resilience. This story broke my heart, and will not soon be forgotten.
Sigh. I was not able to connect to any of the characters—they felt rather wooden and one-dimensional despite the emotional burden the family carries. The mystical elements felt also a bit underdeveloped for me. I really wanted to care for this book more than I did.
There's many interesting and intriguing parts of this book, especially the lore it explores (of which I have not heard of before, and I love learning about lore from all different cultures, ranging from Asian to African to European to Indigenous...). At points this story did feel a bit blurry and unclear in its purpose, causing for a lack of direction in the storytelling. I think a certain kind of reader will like this book, but I think it is worth a try and pretty decent, and very interesting.
This book was a moving portrait of a family with interesting and thought-provoking Cherokee storytelling interwoven. I liked Hobson's prior novel, Where the Dead Sit Talking, but enjoyed this even more. The story felt was complex, felt complete, but also left enough of an open ending that it left me thinking about the characters several days after I finished. I like when the author doesn't feel compelled to put a nice bow on things. I am not usually one for magical realism so I was impressed that this book managed to interweave magical realist elements without losing me. Would definitely recommend.
dark
slow-paced
I’m not sure how to rate this. I’ve been putting this book off for awhile now cause it hits too close to home (context: I am Tsalagi and have lost a family member to police brutality) I’ll need to think on this one.
Cool as hell to hear some of the myths/stories I grew up hearing mentioned tho.
Cool as hell to hear some of the myths/stories I grew up hearing mentioned tho.
This book was a beautifully written account of a family processing the grief of a son and how even 15 years later there is spiritual healing that was taking place. The history of a family who has already seen such pain and sadness guided toward a reconciling tugs at your heart. This new release isn’t a must read for everyone in my opinion and was a bit hard to follow at times but is overall well done
I was really confused as to what to think about this book. I mean it seemed really disjointed and there were too many POV characters I think. Most of the time by the time I got back to another chapter by a character I was wondering about, I had forgotten what was going on with that person. There also wasn't much of a plot. There could have been a plot with the video game but that was resolved in one sentence. So, i wasn't really sure what the plot was. "Will the boy go home for the memorial?" Sorry, but that really isn't enough to make a story around. "Will he survive his suicide attempt?" Okay, better, but then what was with all the chapters with the parents and the foster kid? "Will the foster kid fix his parents' lives?" maybe but we don't really find out what happens after the foster kid leaves. So basically... no plot, and I'm not sure what this book was about.
emotional
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse