A review by blessing_aj
On Black Sisters Street by Chika Unigwe

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

It’s pretty hard to fully articulate how I really feel I about this book though because it falls within the category of books that takes its time to fully reveal itself, but when I say this has got to be one of the saddest books I have ever  read, I mean that there’s literally no sweetness anywhere.

Because I’d already read Night Dancer, I know without a doubt that Chika Unigwe knows how to tell difficult stories with a lot of nuance, but because I have been avoiding reading reviews of this book on purpose, I had no idea this was big on suffering and grief. 

I thought the book had more potential than it lived up to. I also thought the book was much better put together in the first half than the second. Also the character development left much to be desired because I felt like we didn’t really know them despite having followed their journey all through the book.

That said, I really loved that she spotlights a lot of social issues concerning women’s bodies and poverty without interfering with the reader’s freedom to pass judgment how they deem fit.