A review by gravery
On Sundays, She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield

dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

There were some formatting issues in my copy, which I guess is to be expected from a self-published book bought on Amazon, and many typos that might have been fixed with a beta reader or two. The pacing also felt inconsistent, but for a debut novel it wasn't bad. I also wish that we had seen more of Jude's adulthood prior to her mother's murder, which happened only 25 pages in.

That being said, Yah Yah's use of language is poignant and haunting. They paint evocative pictures, vivid and grotesque with their use of metaphor and imagery. The characters are three-dimensional, their relationships real and beautifully dark - the romance between
Jude and Nemoira
was an unexpected, but nevertheless pleasant surprise that added both tension an depth to the story. On Sundays is a delightfully Gothic debut novel, one for which Scholfield deserves some recognition, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
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