A review by mcz_reads
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Black Cake is an expansive tale about family secrets. I appreciated that the story was heavily character-driven, but still had twists and reveals that made it as propulsive as any bestseller. The story is told through short chapters that act as vignettes highlighting a character's perspective, a subject, or an object. The focus on these moments gave each scene room to breathe, allowing emotions to expand and images to linger. This writing style, as well as the "then" and "now" timelines, was an effective approach to the story. The writing was descriptive and I mostly enjoyed the author's use of language; there were moments when I felt the writing was telling instead of showing, but mostly I thought it worked well.

Like many debuts, Black Cake addresses many topics to varying degrees of success. I thought the ideas of the environment, particularly the welfare of the ocean, and the exchange of food across cultures elevated the main storyline. These ideas are relevant to a family shaped by island life. The scenes regarding police brutality didn't feel as organic to the story. Byron's concerns in the beginning of the book make sense, but the escalation later in the book felt like a casual use of a serious topic, which was off-putting. As the book tied up all the storylines at the end, the pace felt rushed and the timelines started to fray. I loved reading this book and always looked forward to picking it up, and I wish the end had been handled as well as the rest of the novel.

Still, this is an impressive debut. I would happily read more novels by Wilkerson. I think this is a well-crafted book that would be enjoyed by fans of contemporary fiction and historical fiction.
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