A review by paulineerika
Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

This one is a hard one for me to rate. I had originally started reading it from the library months ago, but couldn't really get into it, so I ended up returning it. I later bought it so that I would have more time to read it and ended up finishing it in a relatively short amount of time.

I've seen some other reviews criticize the plot of this book as being too meandering or drifting and I can see that. I think the summary provided is misleading: this isn't a clear story about three women and their lives throughout the end of the Civil War. In fact, I wouldn't really call it a story about three women at all. If anything, it's Rue's story, but it's really more about the community in the aftermath of the Civil War. I think one reviewer had it right: the story felt like a mood, not a plot. It's not one that's easily defined or even described. 

Atakora's writing is wonderful and I enjoyed it, but the book itself was not as enjoyable, if that makes sense. I was stressed a lot when reading it, waiting for the worst to happen. And while the axe never quite falls, there is a lot of tragedy and trauma that the characters experience almost casually, like it's just a regular part of life, which is heartbreaking. (Of course, given the setting of the story, I guess that's not so surprising.) The ending is tentatively happy, but not completely satisfying. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings