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sterling8 's review for:
Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
Popsugar 2022: An Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner
This book tells you what you're in for from the very first page. A thirteen year old boy helps his grandfather kill, skin and drain the blood from one of the goats on their farm. The violence, blood and death continue on through the whole book.
And that's why I ended up skimming it. Jojo and his little sister Kayla live with their grandparents along with their mother Leonie ( a lioness who has given up her teeth). Leonie uses drugs and "is no natural mother" according to her own mother Philomene. The childrens' father is in prison.
Leonie has no natural instinct for her kids; doesn't notice if they are hungry, sick or scared. She is quick to slap them if they annoy her. Leonie lives for the father of her children, Michael. Since she is Black and Michael is white and his parents are hideous bigots, this is complicated. It's more complicated because Michael's cousin shot Leonie's brother Given because Given was a little too good at something for Michael's cousin's liking.
Leonie sees Given when she's high. He never speaks to her. Philomene has tried to give Leonie some knowledge of root magic and has asked if Leonie has any Sight for the dead but Leonie refuses to tell her anything and actively tries not to learn any herbalism.
Jojo has the Sight too, it turns out, but he doesn't say anything to anyone because he's got a great-uncle who's not right in the head and Jojo doesn't want to give anyone cause to think that he's not normal.
There are a lot of ghosts in this book. The ghost of the past is with these people always. The ghosts of their past mistakes, regrets and sins of their own or of others who have abused them hover too. Everyone is alone in their pain. There's a lot of symbolism about pain and wrongness, whether you take it into yourself or push it out. It's a bleak bleak book that sings of pain and while it may have something brilliant to say, I couldn't read it right now. I rated it a 3 because I can appreciate it but I don't like it.
This book tells you what you're in for from the very first page. A thirteen year old boy helps his grandfather kill, skin and drain the blood from one of the goats on their farm. The violence, blood and death continue on through the whole book.
And that's why I ended up skimming it. Jojo and his little sister Kayla live with their grandparents along with their mother Leonie ( a lioness who has given up her teeth). Leonie uses drugs and "is no natural mother" according to her own mother Philomene. The childrens' father is in prison.
Leonie has no natural instinct for her kids; doesn't notice if they are hungry, sick or scared. She is quick to slap them if they annoy her. Leonie lives for the father of her children, Michael. Since she is Black and Michael is white and his parents are hideous bigots, this is complicated. It's more complicated because Michael's cousin shot Leonie's brother Given because Given was a little too good at something for Michael's cousin's liking.
Leonie sees Given when she's high. He never speaks to her. Philomene has tried to give Leonie some knowledge of root magic and has asked if Leonie has any Sight for the dead but Leonie refuses to tell her anything and actively tries not to learn any herbalism.
Jojo has the Sight too, it turns out, but he doesn't say anything to anyone because he's got a great-uncle who's not right in the head and Jojo doesn't want to give anyone cause to think that he's not normal.
There are a lot of ghosts in this book. The ghost of the past is with these people always. The ghosts of their past mistakes, regrets and sins of their own or of others who have abused them hover too. Everyone is alone in their pain. There's a lot of symbolism about pain and wrongness, whether you take it into yourself or push it out. It's a bleak bleak book that sings of pain and while it may have something brilliant to say, I couldn't read it right now. I rated it a 3 because I can appreciate it but I don't like it.