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A review by carnisht
Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
4.0
I’m sad that I didn’t love this book… I really wanted to love the finale to this trilogy because I had loved it when I started, but sadly, this book was just okay for me. I struggled to identify the main idea of this story for so long. Really, up until the climax I was pretty unsure. I mean, I knew that it was collectively about the importance of family, but there didn’t seem to be a common throughline. It seemed like several vignettes pushed together haphazardly. Once the climax hit, there was clearly a main plotline being followed, but I didn’t like that I had to wait so long to get to that point of consistency.
Going along with this, the beginning of the story was so slow. I felt like I had to force myself through the story, and I wasn’t nearly as engaged as I had been in the first two books which was a major disappointment. However, once I hit the aforementioned climax, I was hooked and was desperate to finish it. I really just wish it had been more exciting sooner because god it was torturous.
One of the things I really did like about this book was that all of the characters and family members from the series were brought together for the finale. I loved seeing Pa and Mrs. down in Alabama, and seeing Cecile show up was a pleasant surprise, especially since she wasn’t in the second book. It was frustrating, though, trying to keep all of the older female characters separate. There was Big Ma (their grandma), Ma Charles (their great-grandma), Miss Trotter (their great-great-aunt), and Mrs. (their step-mom). I had to constantly sit and think about who was being referenced when these characters were talking or being spoken about. I feel like some different names could’ve been chosen.
Probably my favorite part of this entire series was getting to see the juxtaposition of being black in Oakland, Brooklyn, and Alabama. I really loved exploring the different levels of progressiveness in each location and how the girls adjusted to it. Their experiences in each setting were so vastly different, and I loved that.
Going along with this, the beginning of the story was so slow. I felt like I had to force myself through the story, and I wasn’t nearly as engaged as I had been in the first two books which was a major disappointment. However, once I hit the aforementioned climax, I was hooked and was desperate to finish it. I really just wish it had been more exciting sooner because god it was torturous.
One of the things I really did like about this book was that all of the characters and family members from the series were brought together for the finale. I loved seeing Pa and Mrs. down in Alabama, and seeing Cecile show up was a pleasant surprise, especially since she wasn’t in the second book. It was frustrating, though, trying to keep all of the older female characters separate. There was Big Ma (their grandma), Ma Charles (their great-grandma), Miss Trotter (their great-great-aunt), and Mrs. (their step-mom). I had to constantly sit and think about who was being referenced when these characters were talking or being spoken about. I feel like some different names could’ve been chosen.
Probably my favorite part of this entire series was getting to see the juxtaposition of being black in Oakland, Brooklyn, and Alabama. I really loved exploring the different levels of progressiveness in each location and how the girls adjusted to it. Their experiences in each setting were so vastly different, and I loved that.