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A review by lilyellyn
Carolina Built by Kianna Alexander
2.0
This was a 2 star book with a 3 star story. There's no doubt that Josephine Leary was a fascinating historical figure whose story deserves to be told and I am glad I read this book simply because it introduced me to her. Unfortunately, this book took a character who was courageous and progressive far beyond her time and made her boring.
There is no character development in this novel. Jo doesn't develop into a strong woman, she just somehow always is. She also seems to have no flaws which simply isn't realistic. There is surprisingly little conflict in the story in general. The central tenet of this book is how unusual it was for a black woman to own a lot of property at that time, yet there is very little discussion of race and Jo only experiences minimal pushback from white people in the town.
Her husband, Sweetie, is a completely flat character and he and Jo basically just repeat the same conversation 12 times throughout the book.
I could go on, but I'll just say that this read like a middle school student had been told to write a story about this woman's life. It stuck very close to the facts and took so little creative license that it stripped the characters of any and all personality.
There is no character development in this novel. Jo doesn't develop into a strong woman, she just somehow always is. She also seems to have no flaws which simply isn't realistic. There is surprisingly little conflict in the story in general. The central tenet of this book is how unusual it was for a black woman to own a lot of property at that time, yet there is very little discussion of race and Jo only experiences minimal pushback from white people in the town.
Her husband, Sweetie, is a completely flat character and he and Jo basically just repeat the same conversation 12 times throughout the book.
I could go on, but I'll just say that this read like a middle school student had been told to write a story about this woman's life. It stuck very close to the facts and took so little creative license that it stripped the characters of any and all personality.