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A review by librar_bee
Broughtupsy by Christina Cooke
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
Disclaimer: Thank you to the publishers at Catapult for a galley ARC in exchange for my honest review.
4.25 stars. Following the tragic death of her young brother from sickle cell anemia, twenty-year-old Akúa returns to Kingston, Jamaica - her birth city - to seek out her older sister, Tamika, in the year 1996. The family emigrated 20 years prior following increased riots in their city.
Spanning Vancouver, Canada, Texas, and Kingston, Akúa's recollections and present experiences in her self-discovery are tender and fraught all at once. With her brother Bryson's ashes in tow, she struggles to connect with the sister who once calmed her with stories after their mother's death, even going so far as to offer herself to be baptized at Tamika's church.
Cooke's writing is evocative of every sense and immediately transported me to a place I'd never been before. The tastes of the fruit, the feeling of the air, warm and sticky, the smells of the sea and the markets - all were tangible. Her ability to slip in and out of the present and the past through Akúa's inner monologue was fluid in a way that added a sort of magical element to the prose. As Akúa weaves herself back into her home culture, her patois mirrors her comfort with herself and her home. Meeting Jayda, a queer stripper, lures her into a pocket of society where her identities seem to coexist in harmony.
Tragically, Akúa learns the dangers of being an openly lesbian woman in Jamaica in the harrowing final scenes, and the end of the novel sees Tamika giving Akúa a baptism of her own before her return to Canada. Throughout the novel, we viscerally feel the unease that Akúa does as she remains unsettled throughout her life. As the middle child, she has played both the roles of younger and older sister, and as a Jamaican, an American, and a Canadian. While the sapphic plot does not dominate the novel, Akúa's lesbianism is her consistency, and we see her continuing journey to own her sexuality in her flashbacks to Sara and encounters with Jayda.
A beautiful novel with touching, real characters. I wanted more from each of them, to settle into the story and observe their growth, to know what happened next. Overall the pacing was steady, though it sped up at the end and felt abrupt despite the necessary shift in tone. An essential read.
4.25 stars. Following the tragic death of her young brother from sickle cell anemia, twenty-year-old Akúa returns to Kingston, Jamaica - her birth city - to seek out her older sister, Tamika, in the year 1996. The family emigrated 20 years prior following increased riots in their city.
Spanning Vancouver, Canada, Texas, and Kingston, Akúa's recollections and present experiences in her self-discovery are tender and fraught all at once. With her brother Bryson's ashes in tow, she struggles to connect with the sister who once calmed her with stories after their mother's death, even going so far as to offer herself to be baptized at Tamika's church.
Cooke's writing is evocative of every sense and immediately transported me to a place I'd never been before. The tastes of the fruit, the feeling of the air, warm and sticky, the smells of the sea and the markets - all were tangible. Her ability to slip in and out of the present and the past through Akúa's inner monologue was fluid in a way that added a sort of magical element to the prose. As Akúa weaves herself back into her home culture, her patois mirrors her comfort with herself and her home. Meeting Jayda, a queer stripper, lures her into a pocket of society where her identities seem to coexist in harmony.
A beautiful novel with touching, real characters. I wanted more from each of them, to settle into the story and observe their growth, to know what happened next. Overall the pacing was steady, though it sped up at the end and felt abrupt despite the necessary shift in tone. An essential read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent and Child death