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A review by life_full_ofbooks
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Historical fiction is my favorite genre but so much of it takes place during WW2. When I find a book set in a different time period I generally jump at the chance to read it and that’s what drew me to Junie.
The year before the start of the Civil War Junie is a 16 year old house slave. Her main task is to take care of the needs of 16 year old Violet McQueen, and unlike other slave/mistress relationships Violet and Junie are friends- nearly as close as sisters. The summer of 1860 brings about quite a few changes for the girls. Violet’s father sets up a suitor to whom she is expected to marry and Junie starts seeing the ghost of her sister, Minnie, who died the year before. Minnie has a task for Junie that will change the lives of everyone on the plantation I ways no one could ever imagine.
This book was all over the place. At 368 pages it felt like it was about 60 pages too long. Honestly, the title of this should have been “Anything That Can Go Will Go Wrong” because that’s exactly what happened for nearly 400 pages. I felt like the bad was relentless and by the end instead of feeling sympathy for our young protagonist I just felt anger- at the author
There is absolutely no character development whatsoever. Towards the end there appears to be a little but as quickly as it comes, it leaves. What was the point in having the character change for a few paragraphs if on the very next page it completely disappears?.
There are so many moments throughout the book that reminded me of both Kindred and Beloved- to the point where I had to remind myself this was a different story. I greatly appreciate the author’s writing a character of a slave reader’s haven’t seen (though technically we do see this character in Kindred) but that wasn’t enough to turn this into an uplifting story.
If the author was attempting to write yet another slave story that, like Kindred and Beloved, has depressing undertones and filled with more moments of stress (for the reader), she certainly accomplished that. I wish, however, she had written a more uplifting story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballentine for an advanced copy of this. Junie hits the shelves on February 4th.
The year before the start of the Civil War Junie is a 16 year old house slave. Her main task is to take care of the needs of 16 year old Violet McQueen, and unlike other slave/mistress relationships Violet and Junie are friends- nearly as close as sisters. The summer of 1860 brings about quite a few changes for the girls. Violet’s father sets up a suitor to whom she is expected to marry and Junie starts seeing the ghost of her sister, Minnie, who died the year before. Minnie has a task for Junie that will change the lives of everyone on the plantation I ways no one could ever imagine.
This book was all over the place. At 368 pages it felt like it was about 60 pages too long. Honestly, the title of this should have been “Anything That Can Go Will Go Wrong” because that’s exactly what happened for nearly 400 pages. I felt like the bad was relentless and by the end instead of feeling sympathy for our young protagonist I just felt anger- at the author
There is absolutely no character development whatsoever. Towards the end there appears to be a little but as quickly as it comes, it leaves. What was the point in having the character change for a few paragraphs if on the very next page it completely disappears?.
There are so many moments throughout the book that reminded me of both Kindred and Beloved- to the point where I had to remind myself this was a different story. I greatly appreciate the author’s writing a character of a slave reader’s haven’t seen (though technically we do see this character in Kindred) but that wasn’t enough to turn this into an uplifting story.
If the author was attempting to write yet another slave story that, like Kindred and Beloved, has depressing undertones and filled with more moments of stress (for the reader), she certainly accomplished that. I wish, however, she had written a more uplifting story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballentine for an advanced copy of this. Junie hits the shelves on February 4th.