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A review by kerrygetsliterary
The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
✨️ The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson ✨️
Ms. Johnson, excuse me, I think you dropped this ... 👑
I absolutely loved Yellow Wife and The House of Eve was no different. Sadeqa Johnson is 💯 an auto-buy author for me!
In the 1950s, we meet two main characters. Ruby, a 15-year-old in Philadelphia, striving for a full-ride scholarship to college and the first in her family to attend, and Eleanor in DC, who marries into an elite wealthy Black family who doesn't let just anyone in. Eventually, these two characters' stories come together in an unexpected way.
I loved both POVs and could not stop reading! If I had to take a break, I was thinking about when I could get back to reading it again. There are so many layers to these stories, these characters. You know when you receive a gift, and it's wrapped so nicely, and you open it, and it's another box to unwrap, and inside that box is another box, and another box, until you get to the final box with the gift? Reading The House of Eve is like that, except each unwrapping is another gift itself.
(Also, hi, it's me, I wrap gifts like that sometimes to trick the recipient 😂)
The characters were complete, whole characters with flaws. Many harboring secrets, many with unresolved trauma, and all fighting a battle of their own. The writing was excellent, raw, and beautiful. This book is unafraid to explore heavy, taboo topics and dark pasts that we choose to ignore.
This book will stay with me. I will be thinking about it for a long time.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
⚠️CWs: sexual assault of a child, classism, racism, alcoholism, infertility & miscarriage, pregnancy. Check StoryGraph for others mentioned.
Ms. Johnson, excuse me, I think you dropped this ... 👑
I absolutely loved Yellow Wife and The House of Eve was no different. Sadeqa Johnson is 💯 an auto-buy author for me!
In the 1950s, we meet two main characters. Ruby, a 15-year-old in Philadelphia, striving for a full-ride scholarship to college and the first in her family to attend, and Eleanor in DC, who marries into an elite wealthy Black family who doesn't let just anyone in. Eventually, these two characters' stories come together in an unexpected way.
I loved both POVs and could not stop reading! If I had to take a break, I was thinking about when I could get back to reading it again. There are so many layers to these stories, these characters. You know when you receive a gift, and it's wrapped so nicely, and you open it, and it's another box to unwrap, and inside that box is another box, and another box, until you get to the final box with the gift? Reading The House of Eve is like that, except each unwrapping is another gift itself.
(Also, hi, it's me, I wrap gifts like that sometimes to trick the recipient 😂)
The characters were complete, whole characters with flaws. Many harboring secrets, many with unresolved trauma, and all fighting a battle of their own. The writing was excellent, raw, and beautiful. This book is unafraid to explore heavy, taboo topics and dark pasts that we choose to ignore.
This book will stay with me. I will be thinking about it for a long time.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
⚠️CWs: sexual assault of a child, classism, racism, alcoholism, infertility & miscarriage, pregnancy. Check StoryGraph for others mentioned.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism