Scan barcode
A review by bookishlyem
Grievers by adrienne maree brown
5.0
Such an important read for me. Afrofuturism, grief—specifically Black grief, struggle, pandemics, race, and so many more significant subjects were talked about throughout this novel right off the bat.
"Grievers" is a work of speculative fiction that revolves around Dune, a young, queer, Blasian Detroit native who—along with the city of Detroit—experiences immense loss and grief. Dune’s mother, Kama, seems to be Patient 0 of the H-8 "syndrome" which takes Detroit by a storm. Those who can afford to get out, get out. Those who cannot afford to get out or simply choose not to, stay and brave this sickness knowing the risks. H-8 isn't just like Covid-19 where one can potentially heal. There is no "healing" form H-8 for both the infected and the infected's loved ones.
The way brown wrote H-8 threw me for a loop in the best and worst ways. On one hand, it is such a brilliantly created virus by the author in that it inflicts the most pain. But on the other hand, that is the worst part: the pain. If you don't already know what H-8 does, it quite literally stops a person in their tracks no matter what they are doing in that moment. All control over the body ceases mid-sentence, mid-walk, mid-grocery-store-run, mid-LIFE. Some that are infected with H-8 mumble gibberish in their statuesque positions while some speak a group of coherent yet seemingly unrelated words. The conditions that H-8 imposes upon the people of Detroit sets the precedent for the tone of the book as well as strengthening the title, "Grievers."
Those not taken by H-8 grieve, those taken by H-8 grieve, the city itself grieves. H-8 only infects those with African ancestry and because of that, the social and cultural themes that ultimately govern the story become extra prominent and give way for more themes and topics to be discussed and explored. It really is a fascinating book when you really look deep inside of it and hone in on different aspects.
Sadness is talked about and described so often in works of art (movies, books, music, etc.) but grief—true, heavy, real grief—is not described nearly as much (although nowadays I suppose it is describes a lot more than before). True grief is immobilizing, debilitating, and chips away at your personhood. That is what a lot of this story describes. There is so much loss of life. Not just life as in the opposite of death. I mean life as in the ability to enjoy the rush of the wind against your skin, the way your heart swells when you see your mother smile or laugh, the sound of a city on a Saturday night. Detroit grieves for all of that on top of the deaths caused by H-8.
I read somewhere that brown started writing the story back in 2012, way before Covid-19 had taken the world by the reigns. I find it very interesting that the same problems Detroit faces in "Grievers" are/were faced by marginalized communities during Covid and the upheaval during Covid. Refusal of adequate medical care, immense prejudice, insufficient resources, etc. The book explores a lot of the Black experience from what I (not a Black person) can tell. I found myself saying to myself "It's not fair" at multiple points in the novel, but I suppose brown wasn't trying to show fairness. brown may be trying to communicate the multiplied of ways in which the world is unfair under the backdrop of a mysterious illness that somehow only takes the lives of a historically disenfranchised community for seemingly no reason. To know that something is unfair and unjust is not the same as feeling that unfairness and unjustness, and I felt as much of it as a person like me could while reading this book.
I originally went into this novel not knowing that this was the first installment of a whole series (I think it's a series but I'm not entirely sure), so I am really excited to move on to the second installment and learn more about H-8, read more of brown's social commentary, and find answers that I desperately want answered.
"Grievers" is a work of speculative fiction that revolves around Dune, a young, queer, Blasian Detroit native who—along with the city of Detroit—experiences immense loss and grief. Dune’s mother, Kama, seems to be Patient 0 of the H-8 "syndrome" which takes Detroit by a storm. Those who can afford to get out, get out. Those who cannot afford to get out or simply choose not to, stay and brave this sickness knowing the risks. H-8 isn't just like Covid-19 where one can potentially heal. There is no "healing" form H-8 for both the infected and the infected's loved ones.
The way brown wrote H-8 threw me for a loop in the best and worst ways. On one hand, it is such a brilliantly created virus by the author in that it inflicts the most pain. But on the other hand, that is the worst part: the pain. If you don't already know what H-8 does, it quite literally stops a person in their tracks no matter what they are doing in that moment. All control over the body ceases mid-sentence, mid-walk, mid-grocery-store-run, mid-LIFE. Some that are infected with H-8 mumble gibberish in their statuesque positions while some speak a group of coherent yet seemingly unrelated words. The conditions that H-8 imposes upon the people of Detroit sets the precedent for the tone of the book as well as strengthening the title, "Grievers."
Those not taken by H-8 grieve, those taken by H-8 grieve, the city itself grieves. H-8 only infects those with African ancestry and because of that, the social and cultural themes that ultimately govern the story become extra prominent and give way for more themes and topics to be discussed and explored. It really is a fascinating book when you really look deep inside of it and hone in on different aspects.
Sadness is talked about and described so often in works of art (movies, books, music, etc.) but grief—true, heavy, real grief—is not described nearly as much (although nowadays I suppose it is describes a lot more than before). True grief is immobilizing, debilitating, and chips away at your personhood. That is what a lot of this story describes. There is so much loss of life. Not just life as in the opposite of death. I mean life as in the ability to enjoy the rush of the wind against your skin, the way your heart swells when you see your mother smile or laugh, the sound of a city on a Saturday night. Detroit grieves for all of that on top of the deaths caused by H-8.
I read somewhere that brown started writing the story back in 2012, way before Covid-19 had taken the world by the reigns. I find it very interesting that the same problems Detroit faces in "Grievers" are/were faced by marginalized communities during Covid and the upheaval during Covid. Refusal of adequate medical care, immense prejudice, insufficient resources, etc. The book explores a lot of the Black experience from what I (not a Black person) can tell. I found myself saying to myself "It's not fair" at multiple points in the novel, but I suppose brown wasn't trying to show fairness. brown may be trying to communicate the multiplied of ways in which the world is unfair under the backdrop of a mysterious illness that somehow only takes the lives of a historically disenfranchised community for seemingly no reason. To know that something is unfair and unjust is not the same as feeling that unfairness and unjustness, and I felt as much of it as a person like me could while reading this book.
I originally went into this novel not knowing that this was the first installment of a whole series (I think it's a series but I'm not entirely sure), so I am really excited to move on to the second installment and learn more about H-8, read more of brown's social commentary, and find answers that I desperately want answered.