drokka's review
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder
This book is set in Trinidad in the 50s where violence against women was rife. The book deals with this subject matter.kaynine's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 rounded up bc I enjoyed the writing, the details and descriptions and was intrigued by the story. Ultimately, the plot revelations and points felt cliched, characters felt one-dimensional and not quite like fully realized people. Violence against women felt gratuitous (but isn’t that real life) and was used to further the plot. I appreciated the way the writer used real-life events as a jumping off point to imagine how people touched by them were impacted.
cyndin's review against another edition
3.0
The story itself is well done and interesting but the writing style is very difficult. Two themes in the book are opium addiction and the incomplete understanding a child has of adult affairs. Pretty much all the prose comes across as under the fog of one of these states. It's fine to give a sense of what that's like, but not to the point of confusing your reader so much they can't figure out what is happening.
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