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introvertinterrupted's Reviews (1.08k)
I can sum up my general feelings about this book in a well known quote by Maya Angelou:
"When people show you who they are, believe them the first time."
Oroonoko really could've avoided half of his misfortune if he had learned this principle after he was abducted into slavery by someone he considered a friend. However, he decided he was going to repeatedly try to apply his African moral system into his new surroundings and go by the "honor system" taking everybody at their word. No matter how many times Oroonoko was burnt by his masters who masqueraded as friends and allies, he continued to trust them until it was too late.
Soooo...yeah, as you can see from the previous paragraph, I had some serious strong feelings about the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning about history especially, African/Afro-Caribbean/African-American History. Aphra Behn's book is fairly short with the actual story weighing in at approximately 60-70 pages. Being a person who tends to shy away from classics, I can honestly tell you that this book was a good read and kept me intrigued for the whole story. It had romance, adventure, history, tomfoolery...basically, it had EVERYTHING!
"When people show you who they are, believe them the first time."
Oroonoko really could've avoided half of his misfortune if he had learned this principle after he was abducted into slavery by someone he considered a friend. However, he decided he was going to repeatedly try to apply his African moral system into his new surroundings and go by the "honor system" taking everybody at their word. No matter how many times Oroonoko was burnt by his masters who masqueraded as friends and allies, he continued to trust them until it was too late.
Soooo...yeah, as you can see from the previous paragraph, I had some serious strong feelings about the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning about history especially, African/Afro-Caribbean/African-American History. Aphra Behn's book is fairly short with the actual story weighing in at approximately 60-70 pages. Being a person who tends to shy away from classics, I can honestly tell you that this book was a good read and kept me intrigued for the whole story. It had romance, adventure, history, tomfoolery...basically, it had EVERYTHING!
I randomly got this book at the Dollar Tree on one of my snack runs a few months ago and just picked it up on a whim to read. The snarky repartee of the main character made me laugh out loud in a time when laughter was greatly need in my life.
If you're a fan of the movie,Mean Girls, or you love a flawed character who seeks redemption throughout a book while creating drama for themselves and everyone around them, this book is for you! It wasn't a perfect read by any means due to the author never tying up all the loose ends he'd created in the narrative, but the use of sarcasm and wit that David Iserson uses to write the dialogue of Astrid, the main character in this book, is darn near perfect with the way it balances comedy, meanness, and naïveté . However, the ending definitely could've been better.
If you're a fan of the movie,Mean Girls, or you love a flawed character who seeks redemption throughout a book while creating drama for themselves and everyone around them, this book is for you! It wasn't a perfect read by any means due to the author never tying up all the loose ends he'd created in the narrative, but the use of sarcasm and wit that David Iserson uses to write the dialogue of Astrid, the main character in this book, is darn near perfect with the way it balances comedy, meanness, and naïveté . However, the ending definitely could've been better.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
When you end up talking about a book a year later and wanting to shove it into the hands of every reader you pass in the bookstore, you know that book was unbelievably good. I am patiently waiting for Helene Wecker to write a sequel to this book so I can fangirl over this story some more (There's a tentative release date in 2018!...insert frantic screaming here!....YAAAAAS!).
For once, I feel as if love was handled properly in this book. The characters had a gradual admiration/friendship that carefully grew into a tentative love without the dramatics that so many authors today are so keen on. I was in awe of how well Wecker was able to weave Judaic mythology and Middle Eastern mythology into her book without having it all fall down around her. This book has EVERYTHING in it! From adventure to romance to a showdown between "Good" & "Evil," this book has it all! I can't recommend it enough. Plus, it makes for a great audiobook!
To hear more of my thoughts watch my BEYONCÉ Book Tag video on my BookTube channel!
If you love this book and want another book that has magical realism or mythology in it, I'd recommend [b: The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059] by Erin Morgenstern. I specifically recommend the audiobook since it has a voice actor that does an amazing job differentiating between the cast of characters that run rampant in the book.
For once, I feel as if love was handled properly in this book. The characters had a gradual admiration/friendship that carefully grew into a tentative love without the dramatics that so many authors today are so keen on. I was in awe of how well Wecker was able to weave Judaic mythology and Middle Eastern mythology into her book without having it all fall down around her. This book has EVERYTHING in it! From adventure to romance to a showdown between "Good" & "Evil," this book has it all! I can't recommend it enough. Plus, it makes for a great audiobook!
To hear more of my thoughts watch my BEYONCÉ Book Tag video on my BookTube channel!
If you love this book and want another book that has magical realism or mythology in it, I'd recommend [b: The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059] by Erin Morgenstern. I specifically recommend the audiobook since it has a voice actor that does an amazing job differentiating between the cast of characters that run rampant in the book.
I remember it like it was yesterday when I picked up this book at my fourth grade book fair. I devoured this story all the way home and was finish with it by the time we pulled into the driveway with only the thought of how how hard Yen Mah's life must've been as a child.
Adeline Yen Mah's story was heartbreaking in the worst type of way. Upset that his wife died in childbirth, Yen Mah's father punishes her and places her into the custody of her Aunt to be looked after as a small child. As her memoir progresses, the readers see Yen Mah face trial after trial only to pull through showing the resilience of the human spirit.
I seriously loved this book so much that I bought the grown up version of the story, [b: Falling Leaves|1470673|Fall Leaves Fall!|Zoe Hall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1183933531s/1470673.jpg|1461631]. I'd definitely recommend this novel to anyone who wants to read a sentimental memoir that is also uplifting by the end.
Adeline Yen Mah's story was heartbreaking in the worst type of way. Upset that his wife died in childbirth, Yen Mah's father punishes her and places her into the custody of her Aunt to be looked after as a small child. As her memoir progresses, the readers see Yen Mah face trial after trial only to pull through showing the resilience of the human spirit.
I seriously loved this book so much that I bought the grown up version of the story, [b: Falling Leaves|1470673|Fall Leaves Fall!|Zoe Hall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1183933531s/1470673.jpg|1461631]. I'd definitely recommend this novel to anyone who wants to read a sentimental memoir that is also uplifting by the end.
I read this book with the Writers of Color Book Club and I have to say, I am on the fence about this one. On one hand, the book was interesting due to it's cast of characters who all had a voice and the issues of immigration and how Latinos are seen in America were really intriguing to me since I very rarely see books written from this demographic of people in my TBR pile. Yet, I felt like the execution of the book was at odds with the story.
For me, the story put me in mind of more diverse version of [b: Eleanor & Park|15745753|Eleanor & Park|Rainbow Rowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1341952742s/15745753.jpg|17225055] by Rainbow Rowell. It almost seemed as if the characters of Mayor and Maribel were mirror images of Eleanor and Park, but the added twist was that Maribel is mentally handicap. Add to this star-crossed love story the fact that the author never really pins down a solid main character and adds in random chapters that are told from the voice of various people in Mayor and Maribel's neighborhood and it's almost like the book really does become just a compendium of "unknown" or lost immigrant Americans. This in itself wouldn't be so bad if the other voices tied into the central storyline better. Instead, they just felt like filler to me that served no real purpose in the overall storyline.
Not to mention, the ending in the book sucked! I was all set to...actually I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen, but the story just felt so undone and wrong and mismatched to me overall so I can't exactly place the full blame on the ending for why this book wasn't rated higher. In a sense, I think my low rating has to do with the fact that I saw loads of potential in the book, but Henriquez just never seems to deliver on it.
I would suggest others read this novel for themselves to make a decision about it. Henriquez's novel is definitely for those individuals who are craving a book that walks a fine line between social commentary on immigration and being a contemporary novel about young star-crossed lovers.
For me, the story put me in mind of more diverse version of [b: Eleanor & Park|15745753|Eleanor & Park|Rainbow Rowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1341952742s/15745753.jpg|17225055] by Rainbow Rowell. It almost seemed as if the characters of Mayor and Maribel were mirror images of Eleanor and Park, but the added twist was that Maribel is mentally handicap. Add to this star-crossed love story the fact that the author never really pins down a solid main character and adds in random chapters that are told from the voice of various people in Mayor and Maribel's neighborhood and it's almost like the book really does become just a compendium of "unknown" or lost immigrant Americans. This in itself wouldn't be so bad if the other voices tied into the central storyline better. Instead, they just felt like filler to me that served no real purpose in the overall storyline.
I would suggest others read this novel for themselves to make a decision about it. Henriquez's novel is definitely for those individuals who are craving a book that walks a fine line between social commentary on immigration and being a contemporary novel about young star-crossed lovers.
