Reviews

I live under a rock and I never read a single Roxane Gay book until now. I’ve always followed her on social media because I liked what she said and found her essays to be mind opening. She’s a brilliant women, the type of feminist I look up to, well this is based on what I’ve read online, I’ve never actually read Bad Feminist. And one of her books was on sale in late November last year and I had already bought a load of books on Kindle, Octavia E. Butler, Miranda July, and I think Tan Twan Eng. And I will admit that when a book receives a lot of hype, I tend to get turned off until the hype dies down, most of the time I resist because hype= makes high expectations.

I had my eyes on Ayiti for quite awhile and the wait was totally worth it. This little book is the best example of short short stories that spend little time building and instead they actually spend time moving rhythmically and sensually with a poetic prose that embodies the soul and voice of her Haitian background. You can feel the heat, the graze of the sunburned concrete when you encounter the oppressive forces of the imperialism and colonialism in Haiti, and you can taste the blood and salty water. And I hate to write so little about this book, but if you have An Untamed State, then you will like this collection, one of the short stories is actually where the novel is derived from. It’s really the most underrated work in her repertoire from what I see on Goodreads.

Rating: 5/5

Originally posted on Notes on the Shore

shancowie's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-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

5.0

camille0802's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

rmwh's review against another edition

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5.0

Roxane Gay is an incredible writer. Their work feels like it is an instant part of the canon. I can already see this book on every Women and Lit/Gender and Lit/etc syllabus.

ciarafrances's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

baduiszm's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

asolitaryfanclub's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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