dulceflecha's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Rape, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
ncoletti's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Rape, Torture, and Racism
tinamayreads's review against another edition
challenging
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, and Slavery
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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? No
4.25
Thanks to Scribner Books for the free copy of this book.
- LET US DESCEND takes the framework of Dante's INFERNO and applies it to the story of a young enslaved girl. As you might expect, this book is dark and often horrific read, but in Ward's hands the story gives us both the beauty and the pain of Annis, the people she encounters, and the landscape she inhabits.
- This book is a study in the many forms grief can take, both on personal and community-wide levels, born both out of pain and love.
- Personally, I wished for a little more detail on the spirits Annis encountered, but that might just be the sci-fi/fantasy reader in me, I always want more there.
- LET US DESCEND takes the framework of Dante's INFERNO and applies it to the story of a young enslaved girl. As you might expect, this book is dark and often horrific read, but in Ward's hands the story gives us both the beauty and the pain of Annis, the people she encounters, and the landscape she inhabits.
- This book is a study in the many forms grief can take, both on personal and community-wide levels, born both out of pain and love.
- Personally, I wished for a little more detail on the spirits Annis encountered, but that might just be the sci-fi/fantasy reader in me, I always want more there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Grief, Blood, Rape, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Vomit, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
busyblackbookworm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Jesmyn Ward is a national treasure, and so is this book.
Let Us Descend is a portrait of one woman’s descent into not just any Hell, but a Hell of [white] man’s own creation. During her descent, Annis contends with the spirits that vie for her devotion, yet who seem to let her and her people down at every turn, subjecting her to the cruel whims of white demons.
I’m not sure there’s much I can say about this book other than it should be on EVERYONE’S list. It captures the beauty of Black love and family, the wretched and calculated suffering that white people have inflicted upon our people, and the complicated nature of “freedom” that refugee, formerly enslaved Black folks living on the fringes (e.g., maroons) experienced. And it places pressure on the idea of Black resilience—we should not need to be resilient, to continually give ourselves to a world that seeks our destruction.
For my Black siblings, I do want to issue a word of caution, since this is an extremely heavy book that weighed on my spirit quite a bit as I read. I love Ward’s writing because she is SO remarkably talented—she is one of the best writers of our time—but I do space out my reads of her books because of how heavily they impact me.
So, tl;dr: please please please do yourself a favor and preorder+read this book.
Thank you so much to Scribner for the gifted ARC!
Let Us Descend is a portrait of one woman’s descent into not just any Hell, but a Hell of [white] man’s own creation. During her descent, Annis contends with the spirits that vie for her devotion, yet who seem to let her and her people down at every turn, subjecting her to the cruel whims of white demons.
I’m not sure there’s much I can say about this book other than it should be on EVERYONE’S list. It captures the beauty of Black love and family, the wretched and calculated suffering that white people have inflicted upon our people, and the complicated nature of “freedom” that refugee, formerly enslaved Black folks living on the fringes (e.g., maroons) experienced. And it places pressure on the idea of Black resilience—we should not need to be resilient, to continually give ourselves to a world that seeks our destruction.
For my Black siblings, I do want to issue a word of caution, since this is an extremely heavy book that weighed on my spirit quite a bit as I read. I love Ward’s writing because she is SO remarkably talented—she is one of the best writers of our time—but I do space out my reads of her books because of how heavily they impact me.
So, tl;dr: please please please do yourself a favor and preorder+read this book.
Thank you so much to Scribner for the gifted ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
willa_rose15's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
this is a beautifully written book. it is incredibly sad and my heart hurt while reading. incredibly well done
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Racism
fiberreader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, Sexual violence, and Slavery
renskunk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Ward's writing is always stunning and this isn't any different. We follow Annis as she descends through the levels of hell made manifest through slavery and the systems built in the US to profit off of it. I love elements of the supernatural and the natural world turned character, and this delivers on both of those. The story rapidly picks up its pace through the last two chapters, which I read holding my breath. Beautiful and brilliant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Incest
This is a book that honestly details the lived realities of enslaved people in the United States and all of the abuse and trauma that was inflicted through the institution of slavery.
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