A review by kitten_nuisance
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

I was primarily interested in the historical timeline of this book, so I guess I should have read something nonfiction on the subject instead. I did enjoy parts of this, but it was also a bit circuitous in ways? 

The modern timeline was not enjoyable, like a Southern version of a Debbie Macomber book. It’s a feat to bore me with a plot about someone trying to find out secrets that I’m already invested in!

I have to sadly say that both of these were drowned out to me by a chorus of conservative, even racist, dogwhistles. Everything an author includes in a book is a choice. Confederate roses are a choice. A character in modern day using an old, *moved* slave cabin as a workshop is a choice. Saying that your sister is glaring at you and looks like a Chinaman doing laundry is a choice. It appears that a lot of readers are fine with these choices. I will be choosing to be more cautious with my White Woman Fiction reading selections in the future.
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