A review by eliajor
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

People have recommended 'Another Brooklyn' as a toned-down version of 'A Little Life', but I'd say they're two different books. Another Brooklyn focuses on one protagonist whilst A Little Life has 4 distinct voices/narrators. Another Brooklyn fell short for me since the poetic lyrical verses the writer has used, flew over my head. At times I'd say it was too lyrical for heavy topics like
assault, femicide, men(derogatory)
. If anything it was so surface levelled that the main character feels like a plastic bag floating through her years rather than someone active. There are also hints of indoctrination from religion which is understandable, but there's never truly character growth. Granted the characters are young girls to teenagers who do dumb things but this book could've been so much more than a poem disguised as a novel. I found all the characters insufferable and shallow which made it difficult to read and the more I read the less I enjoyed the heavy implicit narrative. The author wants me to do the heavy lifting and think that her writing is 'deep' which it's not. I don't like the protagonist and I don't like the other girls as much as I sympathise with their situation. 

Really there's very little substance that made it redeeming and simultaneously puts me off seeking therapy. 
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