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A review by lindsloveslit
Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Shout out to @mea.booknook (on IG) for the buddy read via @the.storygraph. Having someone to talk through the heaviness of the book with was something I didn't know I was going to need. 💜 Y'all, this book was captivating - so much so that I stayed up late to read it (& sleep is my favorite, so this is saying a lot). It was heart breaking, but it also reminded me that I love historical fiction. It left me almost speechless - the perspective it gives is not one often told, and it is IMPORTANT. That said, it felt incomplete. I missed the son and the mothers perspective, and I WANT A SEQUEL with their thoughts and point of view. 🤞🏽
Some of my favorite quotes were:
"...this record of a poor Black father's appeal, is what any dying daddy might say to his son... Many of them were handed so little, yet expected so much. They gave more than they had, but less than we need."
"Now I see why you and your mother read so much. It makes you think, makes you see things you can't see, and that was my problem. I had all kinds of opinions ,but I couldn't see a damn thing."
"The more I thought about it, the more hurt I became. Hurt is worse than anger, you know. Anger dwells in the head, then fades. Hurt lingers in the soul. It arranges your feelings without your permission. It binds you."
"The day I finished the book, I closed it slowly. It had opened my eyes as if, my entire life, I'd been asleep. I'd never known I could decide how to live, how to be in this world. Never knew I had the right."
Some of my favorite quotes were:
"...this record of a poor Black father's appeal, is what any dying daddy might say to his son... Many of them were handed so little, yet expected so much. They gave more than they had, but less than we need."
"Now I see why you and your mother read so much. It makes you think, makes you see things you can't see, and that was my problem. I had all kinds of opinions ,but I couldn't see a damn thing."
"The more I thought about it, the more hurt I became. Hurt is worse than anger, you know. Anger dwells in the head, then fades. Hurt lingers in the soul. It arranges your feelings without your permission. It binds you."
"The day I finished the book, I closed it slowly. It had opened my eyes as if, my entire life, I'd been asleep. I'd never known I could decide how to live, how to be in this world. Never knew I had the right."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Abortion and Infidelity