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A review by thewinterizzy
If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
4.0
2/30 of 2019.
#31. Book recommended, but not written, by an author you love.
Also a Life's Library pick.
I knew going into it that this book would have a sad ending, and I think that sort of set me up for less of an impact? I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew something was going to happen. I was surprised that Miah's final chapter still got to me though (truth be told I don't really cry during books/movies); it was just heartbreaking reading him running and running and being so enamored with Ellie and their relationship, and then it's all stripped away from him just because of his skin color.
It's worse knowing that genuinely happens, today, in real life, despite that this book was published twenty years ago. There were definitely some bits in this book that made me miss my childhood, like having just one phone on a cord in the kitchen, but this still felt like a story that could have been told today. It feels both magical and sad that Woodson could capture this twenty years ago and it still speaks relevancy today.
I enjoyed the focus on each of Ellie and Miah's family lives too. To borrow from discussion in Life's Library, it felt important to understand their home life to better understand how they interacted with each other or why they felt how they did.
Overall, it's a pretty quick read, and enjoyable. It's a very quiet sort of story. Considering its title, that feels appropriate. :)
#31. Book recommended, but not written, by an author you love.
Also a Life's Library pick.
I knew going into it that this book would have a sad ending, and I think that sort of set me up for less of an impact? I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew something was going to happen. I was surprised that Miah's final chapter still got to me though (truth be told I don't really cry during books/movies); it was just heartbreaking reading him running and running and being so enamored with Ellie and their relationship, and then it's all stripped away from him just because of his skin color.
It's worse knowing that genuinely happens, today, in real life, despite that this book was published twenty years ago. There were definitely some bits in this book that made me miss my childhood, like having just one phone on a cord in the kitchen, but this still felt like a story that could have been told today. It feels both magical and sad that Woodson could capture this twenty years ago and it still speaks relevancy today.
I enjoyed the focus on each of Ellie and Miah's family lives too. To borrow from discussion in Life's Library, it felt important to understand their home life to better understand how they interacted with each other or why they felt how they did.
Overall, it's a pretty quick read, and enjoyable. It's a very quiet sort of story. Considering its title, that feels appropriate. :)