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adrianagarcia's review against another edition
3.0
Read this as a book to teach for a 12th grade African American literature class. I think it is highly informative about the history of the time, but the writing is dry and matter-of-fact, which doesn't make for an easy read for most students. Harper, through her characters, develops many troubling yet thought-provoking ideas that must be discussed, but can be deeply uncomfortable.
goodreadsisbad's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
earth_to_haley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
kmhst25's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I am generally a sucker for an old book where nothing much happens and the text conveys a social lesson, but Iola Leroy takes the form entirely too far, even for me. The bulk of the text is dialectic conversation conveying a completely transparent moral principle. The actual events of the novel are largely rushed past, in preference of having the characters moralize about them.
I learned a few things about the black experience of Reconstruction, but this was not a fun read. I think only a historian or someone deeply interested in the history of African-American female authors would get much out of this one; I wouldn't recommend it as a novel.
I learned a few things about the black experience of Reconstruction, but this was not a fun read. I think only a historian or someone deeply interested in the history of African-American female authors would get much out of this one; I wouldn't recommend it as a novel.
michaelion's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
An interesting peak into the state of America / Black America a hundred years ago. I don't feel that the one drop rule has the same weight as it used to for obvious reasons that are partially predicted in the book. Harper couldn't account for the burgeoning Black bourgeoisie era that was on the horizon, which leads to a lack of recognition of the one drop rule today, but also not really. I mention that because the book doesn't have the same weight to me as someone who's viewing these characters as white people. They are described as pretty and beautiful, straight up with pale white skin and blue eyes and fair hair. The term for them is octoroons. At least two characters are told to just assimilate as it'll be easier and they wouldn't have to explain things, and I understand why they didn't but 160ish years removed from that era, it's just not relevant or a question anymore. Maybe in some areas. I also mention all this because it's harder for me to have sympathy for the troubles whites go through, and in this current era those people are white, because in that era they were so white they were told to assimilate! It seems like I'm erasing their stories but I honestly went into this book hoping for a story where a Black author let Black people shine and multiple pages / chapters are dedicated to showing and telling the audience that the darker skinned Black people were uneducated, ignorant, and come from heathen / pagan / non-Christian ancestry. These things are what give it a low rating for me. The writing is pretty smooth and beautiful even with it being older, which is usually hard for me to read, but the Black bourgeois era was probably finding its footing when this book was written and published. Many if those ideas still plague the community to this day.
Also it was weirdly anti-alcohol. Like in a preachy way. Clearly written before the Prohibition era. I'm a person who is very anti-alcohol myself and even I was like ew don't tell me what to do.
Also it was weirdly anti-alcohol. Like in a preachy way. Clearly written before the Prohibition era. I'm a person who is very anti-alcohol myself and even I was like ew don't tell me what to do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, War, Racism, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, and Slavery
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Death, and Misogyny
Minor: Hate crime, Antisemitism, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Child death, Deportation, Kidnapping, and Pandemic/Epidemic
doreneemi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
What really struck me while reading this is the way it highlights that Black folks have been saying the same things about this country for all its history. Some things have changed, but overall the same problems persist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Slavery
lulureads365's review against another edition
3.0
This isn’t the greatest novel, but it is a wonderful reflection of American life during the early stages of Reconstruction from the author’s POV. Sadly, not much has changed.
adeleighpenguin's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and fairly straightforward depiction of the livelihood of Black (or anyone with a drop of Black lineage) lives during the civil war and the time that followed. Don’t think I’d need to read this one again but I will always encourage those learning about US history with slavery to step beyond Uncle Tom’s Cabin
terrahome's review against another edition
3.0
Another one I would love to give 2.5 stars, but oh well. This book is not bad persay, but it suffers from not really being much of a novel stylistically. This is really more a post-emancipation manifesto. It explores ideas of racial uplift, which as in the case with most racial uplift politics of the era have aged poorly is some ways and okay in others. Generally, I'd say the novel is an important historical artifact, but as a novel it's not particularly enjoyable. The story is told to the reader, sometimes multiple times, through really long dialogue sequences. Description of setting whomst? All I know is pages upon pages of back and forth conversations about politics. Again, not condemning the important anti-slavery and anti-racist messages of the book, but don't go into this one expecting a gripping story.