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A review by shereadytoread
The Blackbirds by Eric Jerome Dickey
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was difficult for me. There is a lot of heavy content combined with outlandish behavior. Overall, it is a story of 4 women bonded by friendship and is split into sections based on each person's birthday, however the POV focuses on different women from chapter to chapter so even though it is grouped, it often comes off disjointed. I wanted to love it, especially with the recent death of the author. I love the concept. I love the intention. I don't love the execution. I will say, the ending was so good (the reason I gave this book 3 stars instead of 2), but it was a long road getting there.
Pros:
- wonderful display of friendship even when lines are crossed
- complex women who are different but it makes sense that they work together
- displays the difficulty of family relationships and that even loving families have their downfalls
- some small nuggets of life lessons
- wonderful display of friendship even when lines are crossed
- complex women who are different but it makes sense that they work together
- displays the difficulty of family relationships and that even loving families have their downfalls
- some small nuggets of life lessons
Cons:
- there is heavy biphobia and homophobia throughout even when characters engage in same sex sexual encounters
- over the top displays of domestic violence that go without any consequence
- a book that is supposed to be about female friendships is so heavily focused on the women pursuing men. Almost every single conversation these women have is about the men they are pursuing
- all of the relationships are rather dysfunctional so there is nothing to really invest in or root for
- the women themselves aren't especially likeable (I'm unsure if this is a pro or a con, as I hate the idea that women have to be "likeable" and "nice" 24/7 but all of them????)
- there is heavy biphobia and homophobia throughout even when characters engage in same sex sexual encounters
- over the top displays of domestic violence that go without any consequence
- a book that is supposed to be about female friendships is so heavily focused on the women pursuing men. Almost every single conversation these women have is about the men they are pursuing
- all of the relationships are rather dysfunctional so there is nothing to really invest in or root for
- the women themselves aren't especially likeable (I'm unsure if this is a pro or a con, as I hate the idea that women have to be "likeable" and "nice" 24/7 but all of them????)