Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

5 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Like most books on slavery, this was emotionally hard to read. But it was beautifully written, and I loved Annis and even Aza. I have hope for Annis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

_annika__'s review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Racism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Slavery, Emotional abuse, and Rape

qkitten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Slavery, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Violence, Death of parent, Torture, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy and Homophobia

laynemandros's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Glad I started off the year with such a banger, and if my first book of 2024 indicated how the rest of my reading year will go, then we’re off to a good start. 

One thing about me is that I love Jesmyn Ward, she’s hands down one of my top five favorite authors of all time. I expected to be blown away by this book because I’ve had visceral, emotional reactions to all of her work (I’ve read all of her books except “The Fire This Time), but I wasn’t. To be clear, I enjoyed this read, but I wasn’t as enthralled with this one as I have been with Ward’s work in the past. I guess it might be a little unfair to compare her books to each other when so many of them are my absolute favs. 

I have no bones to pick with this book, if you like beautiful, moving writing with layered prose and incredible plot execution then you’ll want to pick this one up. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I felt the middle of the novel lagged for me a bit. I feel like this might be twofold, I’m not really a fan of historical fiction or magical realism— two things that dominate this novel. 

As always, the climax and falling actions of Jesmyn Ward’s writing absolutely captivated me. This is a beautiful and complex story of ancestry, particularly motherhood, of Black women who were enslaved in the south. The motif of water and the reclamation of water after the trauma of ancestors being forcibly transported to America via the Atlantic Ocean was particularly poignant for me throughout this read. 

Not much else to say about this one, Jesmyn Ward never misses. In 2024 I hope to check off the last book of hers that I’ve yet to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Confinement, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Excrement, Slavery, Violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Suicide attempt, and Forced institutionalization

kirstym25's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault and Colonisation