Scan barcode
A review by jessbasuthakur
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank god this book came at the time it did.
Despite not being a perfect book by any means, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book (for the most part) after reading three okay-to-bad books in a row.
Things I liked: I really loved Eleanor's story, reading how she overcame all the hardships and struggles she endured in the islands and England to make it to Southern California and make a home for herself and her family. The simple and pared back prose allowed the plot of the story to really shine while still being descriptive when describing the different settings and food. The portion of the story that took place on the islands was especially well written. Bunny and Pearl's characters were my favorite next to Covey/Eleanor.
The mixed bag: The book tried to deal with WAY too many themes and in the end failed at exploring many of them in depth. I truly think if we took away the bisexual and DV survivor trope from Benny, there would still be enough to create the distance between the siblings to keep the story on the same trajectory. Going against one's immigrant parents' wishes is enough to drive a wedge between oneself and their family. Other themes not explored well were police brutality, being Black in the US/UK, mental health issues, and the plight of the child given up for adoption. I'm sure I'm missing some because there were SO many. I did appreciate the multi-generational traumas, foreignness/isolation, and the importance of food within a culture. We also heard from way too many characters. Although in one way I appreciated seeing how each person affected/was affected by Eleanor, it was simply far too many ancillary characters and it took away time from Eleanor's more interesting story.
The bad: The pacingggg. The book took far too long to get into it, and by the end, it flew at hyperspeed. I think the pacing picked up dramatically in the end to afford the book the neat, clean, "tied in a bow" package ending Wilkerson was probably going for, but I personally don't think it needed such a clean ending (another thing I didn't like). I think the way the book was framed it could have afforded a little more nuanced, "dirty" ending because I feel the neat ending didn't really fit the book well. There is a nice satisfaction to having a happy ending, don't get me wrong, but it just felt too forced.
Overall, worth the read!
Despite not being a perfect book by any means, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book (for the most part) after reading three okay-to-bad books in a row.
Things I liked: I really loved Eleanor's story, reading how she overcame all the hardships and struggles she endured in the islands and England to make it to Southern California and make a home for herself and her family. The simple and pared back prose allowed the plot of the story to really shine while still being descriptive when describing the different settings and food. The portion of the story that took place on the islands was especially well written. Bunny and Pearl's characters were my favorite next to Covey/Eleanor.
The mixed bag: The book tried to deal with WAY too many themes and in the end failed at exploring many of them in depth. I truly think if we took away the bisexual and DV survivor trope from Benny, there would still be enough to create the distance between the siblings to keep the story on the same trajectory. Going against one's immigrant parents' wishes is enough to drive a wedge between oneself and their family. Other themes not explored well were police brutality, being Black in the US/UK, mental health issues, and the plight of the child given up for adoption. I'm sure I'm missing some because there were SO many. I did appreciate the multi-generational traumas, foreignness/isolation, and the importance of food within a culture. We also heard from way too many characters. Although in one way I appreciated seeing how each person affected/was affected by Eleanor, it was simply far too many ancillary characters and it took away time from Eleanor's more interesting story.
The bad: The pacingggg. The book took far too long to get into it, and by the end, it flew at hyperspeed. I think the pacing picked up dramatically in the end to afford the book the neat, clean, "tied in a bow" package ending Wilkerson was probably going for, but I personally don't think it needed such a clean ending (another thing I didn't like). I think the way the book was framed it could have afforded a little more nuanced, "dirty" ending because I feel the neat ending didn't really fit the book well. There is a nice satisfaction to having a happy ending, don't get me wrong, but it just felt too forced.
Overall, worth the read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Racism, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Rape