livlosiewicz 's review for:

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

4.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Pros: 

• I liked the writing- I really bought in to what each character was saying and rooted for them (meaning that I constantly switched sides as we went back and forth between different perspectives).
• The chapter of letters was my favorite!!! Truly blew me away, what a powerful way to show us the dynamic of the relationship
• I loved the relationship between Roy and his father <3 and also just loved exploring the different complex relationships throughout the book
• Importantly, while this is a novel about the complexity of marriage, love, and human relationships, it’s also about the flaws in the justice system, and I thought this was a phenomenal way to deliver that message without hitting us over the head with it

 Cons:
 

• the best part of the book is the long epistolary chapter in the first half, so in some ways I felt a teensy bit let down by the second half in that it wasn’t quite as engaging
• The epilogue was a little odd to me in relation to what else we knew about the characters and I would have liked to see more character development to get us there (spoiler:
  Roy just up and married someone new? ?
  )

Recommendation: I recommend for readers who appreciate good prose (don’t worry; it’s not flowery!!) and complex characters. This is a character-based novel at its core, and a good one at that. I think your enjoyment of the book will depend on whether you like books with complex and often unlikeable characters (if no, skip it) and whether you need a driving plot (if yes, skip it). If you can get behind those, then I think this book will be a thought-provoking win for you!