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A review by pattyspages
The Day I Fell Off My Island by Yvonne Bailey-Smith
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
"I know what you mean , like you fell off your island and there was none there to catch you"
What an incredible gem of a book!!!
Seriously wow!
It's a book that makes you yearn for home (whatever and wherever that is for you) alongside a longing for a childhood deserved.
The narrative voice is warm and honest and descriptive and mature.
Don't get me wrong, it deals with some really heavy topics but doesn't romanticise OR dramatize them. You are lead to each moment and interaction with the hope that each character get whatever it is that they need (even if that is their comeuppance).
It reads like an autofiction and I know people have taken issue with how mature the MC sounds in her younger years which I find ridiculous and pompous - children and teenagers are not as dense as we adults like to think...we should start remembering when we were them!
And yes the heavier moments seem to come and go in a whisp but for a lot of people, this is how they deal with traumatic events and I love that this book made space for those of us that don't know how to break down and be 'traumatised'.
The idea of forgiveness and acceptance is done so cleverly but there are definitely moments where (as an older sister), I found myself wanting to scream!
Anyway...read it.
"I think the reasons people hurt their own children are complex. But at the bottom of it, I'm convinced it's to do with their own unresolved trauma's.
What an incredible gem of a book!!!
Seriously wow!
It's a book that makes you yearn for home (whatever and wherever that is for you) alongside a longing for a childhood deserved.
The narrative voice is warm and honest and descriptive and mature.
Don't get me wrong, it deals with some really heavy topics but doesn't romanticise OR dramatize them. You are lead to each moment and interaction with the hope that each character get whatever it is that they need (even if that is their comeuppance).
It reads like an autofiction and I know people have taken issue with how mature the MC sounds in her younger years which I find ridiculous and pompous - children and teenagers are not as dense as we adults like to think...we should start remembering when we were them!
And yes the heavier moments seem to come and go in a whisp but for a lot of people, this is how they deal with traumatic events and I love that this book made space for those of us that don't know how to break down and be 'traumatised'.
The idea of forgiveness and acceptance is done so cleverly but there are definitely moments where (as an older sister), I found myself wanting to scream!
Anyway...read it.
"I think the reasons people hurt their own children are complex. But at the bottom of it, I'm convinced it's to do with their own unresolved trauma's.
It's like anything I suppose; some people are conscious about not repeating things that have happened to them and others... less so"