ecardonaa 's review for:

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

2.0

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Chona had never been one to play by the rules of American society. She did not experience the world as most people did. To her, the world was not a china closet where you admire this and don’t touch that. Rather, she saw it as a place where every act of living was a chance for tikkun olam, to improve the world.

Oh, boy. Where to start?

While I enjoyed some parts of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, there are just some things that just threw off the vibe for me.

An unclear title, multiple plots that had nothing to do with each other, and in general, just some things that for me were weird, were what threw me off and didn't allow me to enjoy this book like other reads I have enjoyed.

This read, although had lots of elements I love (historical fiction, Jewish and African American societies, the US in the 30's), they didn't match for me fully and weren't a full blown on perfect read.

However, the characters were THE highlight of this book. I absolutely loved the exchange that happened in Chicken Hill and everything that happened.

But, just some details made it not that much of an enjoyable read.

So, first not great read of the year.

General rating: 2/5
Characters: 5/5
Narrative: 1,5/5
Writing: 2,5/5