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A review by kashila
Night Song by Beverly Jenkins
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
For once, the characters in this book are both lovely and compelling. First, we have Cara, a strong woman in each and every sense of the word. Then we have Chase, the most charming, sweetest man you can think of. And none of them has had it easy in life. Yet not only they found each other but became successful in their own fields, with Cara being an educated woman and schoolteacher and Chase a calvary Sargent. Accompanying them through this journey there is a rich and diverse cast of characters. I loved the side characters. And Cara and Chase not only genuinely care for each other and are respectful to one another* and their respective careers, they also communicate and talk things out! (even when sometimes it takes them some time).
Now, the not-so-good things. First of all, the romantic plot (which given the genre is basically the main plot) could have, and probably should have been resolved much earlier. Still, it was compelling to see it develop. They are passionate and very much in love. However there was a certain twist I wasn't (still am not?) very convinced of, but I did like how it was solved so that's ok (refer to the note below). Another thing, and probably the most important is taht the sexy scenes were frankly kind of dull. From the vocabulary to their lowkey off-beat pacing, I just didn't like them much and speed up while going through them. But they were numerous and became repetitive after a certain point.
A final, minor complaint is that some of the side characters kind of appeared and disappeared, which is ok given the length of the book but I did enjoy these characters a lot so I wanted to see more of them (like Virginia, Dreamer of Eagles or Mae).
Now, the GOOD stuff: this book made me cry, laugh, cheer, gasp, root for the characters... Chase made me giggle like he was right there flieting with me, Cara had me saying "you go, girl" constantly. The more action-orirnted parts were thrilling, the slower day-to-day parts were fascinating. Because here is the thing: even the slight info-dumping was great. Many of the details on African-american history may not have been absolutely necessary for the plot, but they were included and contribute to creating this rich, colorful picture of what life was like at the time. Jenkins doesn't shy away from very hard topics relating to the war, slavery, racism, lynching, rape, colorism and so on. But the book doesn't dwell on those details, and instead focuses on how they overcome and succeed despite these circumstances. Abolitionism, migration, colonization (both in Africa and in the States), the creation of Liberia, and many other such topics all contribute to the picture. In the end, Night Song feels almost like an historical novel rather than a romance novel. Perhaps, it should have been historical fiction with a romantic plot, rather than a romance novel with an historical setting. Whatever it is, despite it being noticeable at the rougher edges that this was her first novel, Beverly Jenkins makes it all work with a simple, clean and effective writing style and her capacity to tell a small story in a grand scale.
I enjoyed this all the way through, learned a great deal (btw, I had no idea what a Buffalo soldier was, I thought it was just something from a Bob Marley song), and overall had a marvellous ride while listening to this.
*KIND OF SPOILER: I said they are respectul to each other, which is true, but at a certain point in the book (at around the middle) something happens. Cara does something a bit iffy, but most of all, Chase kind of behaves like an ass, (though only for a short period of time) and she has no say in a very important decision. They make up for it, and it does get addressed and fixed by the end.
Now, the not-so-good things. First of all, the romantic plot (which given the genre is basically the main plot) could have, and probably should have been resolved much earlier. Still, it was compelling to see it develop. They are passionate and very much in love. However there was a certain twist I wasn't (still am not?) very convinced of, but I did like how it was solved so that's ok (refer to the note below). Another thing, and probably the most important is taht the sexy scenes were frankly kind of dull. From the vocabulary to their lowkey off-beat pacing, I just didn't like them much and speed up while going through them. But they were numerous and became repetitive after a certain point.
A final, minor complaint is that some of the side characters kind of appeared and disappeared, which is ok given the length of the book but I did enjoy these characters a lot so I wanted to see more of them (like Virginia, Dreamer of Eagles or Mae).
Now, the GOOD stuff: this book made me cry, laugh, cheer, gasp, root for the characters... Chase made me giggle like he was right there flieting with me, Cara had me saying "you go, girl" constantly. The more action-orirnted parts were thrilling, the slower day-to-day parts were fascinating. Because here is the thing: even the slight info-dumping was great. Many of the details on African-american history may not have been absolutely necessary for the plot, but they were included and contribute to creating this rich, colorful picture of what life was like at the time. Jenkins doesn't shy away from very hard topics relating to the war, slavery, racism, lynching, rape, colorism and so on. But the book doesn't dwell on those details, and instead focuses on how they overcome and succeed despite these circumstances. Abolitionism, migration, colonization (both in Africa and in the States), the creation of Liberia, and many other such topics all contribute to the picture. In the end, Night Song feels almost like an historical novel rather than a romance novel. Perhaps, it should have been historical fiction with a romantic plot, rather than a romance novel with an historical setting. Whatever it is, despite it being noticeable at the rougher edges that this was her first novel, Beverly Jenkins makes it all work with a simple, clean and effective writing style and her capacity to tell a small story in a grand scale.
I enjoyed this all the way through, learned a great deal (btw, I had no idea what a Buffalo soldier was, I thought it was just something from a Bob Marley song), and overall had a marvellous ride while listening to this.
*KIND OF SPOILER: I said they are respectul to each other, which is true, but at a certain point in the book (at around the middle) something happens. Cara does something a bit iffy, but most of all, Chase kind of behaves like an ass, (though only for a short period of time) and she has no say in a very important decision. They make up for it, and it does get addressed and fixed by the end.