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A review by chelseakasten
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall, I did enjoy this book, although that enjoyment was really limited to the main narrative of the murders in Lark. I felt like it really could have used some more editing to refine the core of the story and to streamline some of the distractions. There were also just weird mistakes throughout. Like, in one scene it says that Darren and another character leave the bathroom, and then literally the next paragraph is about them talking to each other while “looking in the mirror over the sink.” I thought they left the bathroom?! There were a number of instances like this that made me have to go back a few pages and reread because I was confused.
The Lark narrative is book-ended by a separate narrative that is meant to set the stage for Darren’s current predicament - a suspended Black Texas Ranger who has historically been tasked with investigating the Aryan Brotherhood’s drug trade while being asked to ignore their racial hate crimes. I didn’t dislike this entirely, as it sets a good background, but it introduced a lot of unnecessary characters and ultimately created some confusion for me. I also did not like how it was used to wrap up the book. There was a better ending (not necessarily nice, just more appropriate) in there somewhere.
The third narrative of the book was Darren’s complicated relationships with family members. There were way too many peripheral characters here that really muddied the waters. (Naomi, for example, was distracting. Even the mother really didn’t add much.)
The Lark narrative is book-ended by a separate narrative that is meant to set the stage for Darren’s current predicament - a suspended Black Texas Ranger who has historically been tasked with investigating the Aryan Brotherhood’s drug trade while being asked to ignore their racial hate crimes. I didn’t dislike this entirely, as it sets a good background, but it introduced a lot of unnecessary characters and ultimately created some confusion for me. I also did not like how it was used to wrap up the book. There was a better ending (not necessarily nice, just more appropriate) in there somewhere.
The third narrative of the book was Darren’s complicated relationships with family members. There were way too many peripheral characters here that really muddied the waters. (Naomi, for example, was distracting. Even the mother really didn’t add much.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent and Murder