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A review by cakt1991
Carolina Built by Kianna Alexander
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I’ve read a few of Kianna Alexander’s romances, but was admittedly the more excited when I saw the announcement/blurb for Carolina Built. I had never heard of Josephine N. Leary before, but upon finishing the book, I’m fascinated by her story, and how she rose from slavery to become a real estate mogul. The book perfectly captures her rise in prosperity, and the struggles she had to deal with at the time as a Black woman in a white man’s world. I was particularly struck by the depiction of her complex relationship with her husband, who often seemed intimidated by her ambition. He has his own (more legitimate) deficits, with his tendency toward overindulgence in alcohol, which she greatly disapproves of.
I did long for more depth and growth from Josephine as a character at times. The book leans very much into the “narrative biography” style, taking Josephine from event to event, without allowing the reader to have many reasons to truly become invested in the protagonist apart from her many accomplishments. Josephine is seemingly perfect, and whileI admire her for her accomplishments, I couldn’t help but want to see some vulnerability. While it is great to see a portrait of Black female excellence in a time where the odds are so stacked against them, it does make me wonder if this topic was not better suited to an actual biography, given Alexander’s approach.
This is not a bad book by any means, and I did really enjoy it. I do feel that it does require going in with the right expectations. The book feels almost episodic, connected by the fact that the people within the story experience recurring issues in their conflicts with one another, and each of them is quite set in their ways for the most part. I feel like if you’re fine with a book that doesn’t fall neatly into the “character vs. plot” focus, and has a very vignette-like style, you’ll enjoy this book.
I’ve read a few of Kianna Alexander’s romances, but was admittedly the more excited when I saw the announcement/blurb for Carolina Built. I had never heard of Josephine N. Leary before, but upon finishing the book, I’m fascinated by her story, and how she rose from slavery to become a real estate mogul. The book perfectly captures her rise in prosperity, and the struggles she had to deal with at the time as a Black woman in a white man’s world. I was particularly struck by the depiction of her complex relationship with her husband, who often seemed intimidated by her ambition. He has his own (more legitimate) deficits, with his tendency toward overindulgence in alcohol, which she greatly disapproves of.
I did long for more depth and growth from Josephine as a character at times. The book leans very much into the “narrative biography” style, taking Josephine from event to event, without allowing the reader to have many reasons to truly become invested in the protagonist apart from her many accomplishments. Josephine is seemingly perfect, and whileI admire her for her accomplishments, I couldn’t help but want to see some vulnerability. While it is great to see a portrait of Black female excellence in a time where the odds are so stacked against them, it does make me wonder if this topic was not better suited to an actual biography, given Alexander’s approach.
This is not a bad book by any means, and I did really enjoy it. I do feel that it does require going in with the right expectations. The book feels almost episodic, connected by the fact that the people within the story experience recurring issues in their conflicts with one another, and each of them is quite set in their ways for the most part. I feel like if you’re fine with a book that doesn’t fall neatly into the “character vs. plot” focus, and has a very vignette-like style, you’ll enjoy this book.