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mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
2.0
TRIGGER WARNINGS
//
rape, period typical racism, physical violence against Black people, sexual violence against Black people, somewhat graphic description of mauling by wild animal
I will say that the book is not very graphic in its description of these incidents, but just be aware.
//
This was a confusing read for me. It did not deliver on a majority of the promises made in the synopsis yet I was not disappointed. I was unsure most of the book whether what was going on was metaphorical or not yet I never grew frustrated like I normally would. But, there’s a reason I don’t read literary fiction too often and this definitely embodied some of why. While something about the writing did speak to me, I did still have issues.
The synopsis was totally misleading. This isn't a generational tale of trauma spread across pre and post slavery America. It's primarily about Rue struggling to find her purpose in a world where she no longer can use white peoples’ estimation of her as a standard for her worth. There are at most three chapters of her mother May Belle, and only one chapter of Varina. And to be quite frank, their input did not add anything so it would have been perfectly fine to cut their pages altogether.
The story is somewhat non-linear, flitting arbitrarily back and forth between Rue’s life from childhood to adolescence on the plantation and her present-day life as a young woman after the civil war created enough instability in the area their plantation ended up free almost incidentally. I say it’s somewhat non-linear because more than half was set in the present storyline. While the information in the flashbacks was crucial to explaining the circumstances in the present day I don’t think that the story benefited from this particular structure. The same experiences could have been communicated in the present timeline interwoven naturally via conversation or Rue’s internal dialogue rather than these jarring shifts to the past.
It only served to confuse me due to how inconsistently the time period was conveyed. The year was included sometimes, but then it would drop off choosing to maintain the ‘past’ timeline or the ‘present’ timeline at will, but not specify when exactly the events of the chapter took place in relation to a previous chapter. This often left it up to me to guess based on context clues.
The whole narrative is told in a detached, third person perspective. This made it near impossible to connect with any character on a deeper level outside of Rue. And I only felt connected to Rue because I spent so much time following her. It was a style over substance decision. Now to be fair, the prose did create a prickling sense of dread and swirling mystique when applied to the conjure work. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of character development.
It was rarely made explicitly clear why anyone was doing anything. For certain aspects, this was alright as people can be inexplicable especially considering the upbringing of the people within Rue’s community. However, for the most part I found it increased my disinterest in anybody outside of Rue as the lack of proper reasoning for anybody’s decisions left me nothing to sympathize with or latch onto. My sympathy was generally a given due to the nature of the material, however, that was relying entirely on my own inherent compassion rather than creating endearing characters or captivating situations.
The story also played out in an obvious way. There a lot of books about slavery and post-slavery America. Depending on the intent of the author and/or what facet the book is focusing on there can be some overlap in depiction. This isn’t a bad thing by any means. I feel that, as a Black person, too much of Black history is buried in an attempt to distance the country from its moral bankruptcy. I commend any author who chooses to shine a light on this very dark period in American history.
That being said, I do expect the book to do something different with the subject matter. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead makes the railroad a real live train system for instance. Kindred by Octavia Butler involves time travel. There is always an element to differentiate it in some fashion even if the book chooses to play it as straightforward historical fiction. It comes down to the execution.
This book had the conjure magic, but other than that it was a fairly average story. It didn't offer a new perspective or insightful commentary. It didn't make me think deeply or teach me anything. And while a book exploring serious topics can still exist purely for entertainment - in the sense that it does not specifically seek to inform - this book still ultimately fails on that level as it is not particularly interesting. In fact all of the significant narrative and character building moments don't happen until part 4; which doesn't start until page 270. Don't get me wrong, things are occurring throughout, it's just that it doesn’t feel evenly distributed. It's very end-heavy. Suddenly everything is rapidly picking up a lot more just to abruptly end.
The very end is ambiguous and not in a good way. It involves a massive time skip that requires a lot of external interpretation to connect the dots thematically.
Overall, I feel that the best parts of this book are in spite of Atakora's storytelling not because of it. I wanted to give this book 3 stars, but thinking on it more I decided to remove a star because the reason I was feeling randomly super invested was because all of the plot was stuffed into the back quarter so of course I was predisposed to finish the book on a high note; that's where all the action was. I know this is fairly negative, but I did like this book and I would recommend it - just be conscious of the possible drawbacks.
//
rape, period typical racism, physical violence against Black people, sexual violence against Black people, somewhat graphic description of mauling by wild animal
I will say that the book is not very graphic in its description of these incidents, but just be aware.
//
This was a confusing read for me. It did not deliver on a majority of the promises made in the synopsis yet I was not disappointed. I was unsure most of the book whether what was going on was metaphorical or not yet I never grew frustrated like I normally would. But, there’s a reason I don’t read literary fiction too often and this definitely embodied some of why. While something about the writing did speak to me, I did still have issues.
The synopsis was totally misleading. This isn't a generational tale of trauma spread across pre and post slavery America. It's primarily about Rue struggling to find her purpose in a world where she no longer can use white peoples’ estimation of her as a standard for her worth. There are at most three chapters of her mother May Belle, and only one chapter of Varina. And to be quite frank, their input did not add anything so it would have been perfectly fine to cut their pages altogether.
The story is somewhat non-linear, flitting arbitrarily back and forth between Rue’s life from childhood to adolescence on the plantation and her present-day life as a young woman after the civil war created enough instability in the area their plantation ended up free almost incidentally. I say it’s somewhat non-linear because more than half was set in the present storyline. While the information in the flashbacks was crucial to explaining the circumstances in the present day I don’t think that the story benefited from this particular structure. The same experiences could have been communicated in the present timeline interwoven naturally via conversation or Rue’s internal dialogue rather than these jarring shifts to the past.
It only served to confuse me due to how inconsistently the time period was conveyed. The year was included sometimes, but then it would drop off choosing to maintain the ‘past’ timeline or the ‘present’ timeline at will, but not specify when exactly the events of the chapter took place in relation to a previous chapter. This often left it up to me to guess based on context clues.
The whole narrative is told in a detached, third person perspective. This made it near impossible to connect with any character on a deeper level outside of Rue. And I only felt connected to Rue because I spent so much time following her. It was a style over substance decision. Now to be fair, the prose did create a prickling sense of dread and swirling mystique when applied to the conjure work. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of character development.
It was rarely made explicitly clear why anyone was doing anything. For certain aspects, this was alright as people can be inexplicable especially considering the upbringing of the people within Rue’s community. However, for the most part I found it increased my disinterest in anybody outside of Rue as the lack of proper reasoning for anybody’s decisions left me nothing to sympathize with or latch onto. My sympathy was generally a given due to the nature of the material, however, that was relying entirely on my own inherent compassion rather than creating endearing characters or captivating situations.
The story also played out in an obvious way. There a lot of books about slavery and post-slavery America. Depending on the intent of the author and/or what facet the book is focusing on there can be some overlap in depiction. This isn’t a bad thing by any means. I feel that, as a Black person, too much of Black history is buried in an attempt to distance the country from its moral bankruptcy. I commend any author who chooses to shine a light on this very dark period in American history.
That being said, I do expect the book to do something different with the subject matter. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead makes the railroad a real live train system for instance. Kindred by Octavia Butler involves time travel. There is always an element to differentiate it in some fashion even if the book chooses to play it as straightforward historical fiction. It comes down to the execution.
This book had the conjure magic, but other than that it was a fairly average story. It didn't offer a new perspective or insightful commentary. It didn't make me think deeply or teach me anything. And while a book exploring serious topics can still exist purely for entertainment - in the sense that it does not specifically seek to inform - this book still ultimately fails on that level as it is not particularly interesting. In fact all of the significant narrative and character building moments don't happen until part 4; which doesn't start until page 270. Don't get me wrong, things are occurring throughout, it's just that it doesn’t feel evenly distributed. It's very end-heavy. Suddenly everything is rapidly picking up a lot more just to abruptly end.
The very end is ambiguous and not in a good way. It involves a massive time skip that requires a lot of external interpretation to connect the dots thematically.
Overall, I feel that the best parts of this book are in spite of Atakora's storytelling not because of it. I wanted to give this book 3 stars, but thinking on it more I decided to remove a star because the reason I was feeling randomly super invested was because all of the plot was stuffed into the back quarter so of course I was predisposed to finish the book on a high note; that's where all the action was. I know this is fairly negative, but I did like this book and I would recommend it - just be conscious of the possible drawbacks.
meshuganush's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
joannemiro1948's review against another edition
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rezelazny's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.5
mindthegap92's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
dannythestreet's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.25
I liked the characters and their stories, it all felt very real despite some magical realism elements. I guess I wish it was a little shorter and more fast paced, but overall an important book to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Abortion, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Violence, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, and Alcohol
jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
Quick thoughts: Historical fiction primarily about a mother and daughter both born into slavery. The timeline toggles back and forth between the years before the Civil War and the years right after the Civil War. Both women work as conjure women/healers/midwives.
might write a full review later, if I have the energy. :D
might write a full review later, if I have the energy. :D