Reviews

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

starbutterfly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois is a complicated, yet beautiful read. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers writes a beautifully detailed generational story and it’s very easy to get to get lost in the book. It’s devastating to read about many of the atrocities and the personal traumas experienced by Ailey and her family but it’s important to understand how their trauma is generational. It was amazing to be able to join Ailey on her journey to discover more about her family. 

mardigan2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

mo_likesto_read's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

katreadsalot's review against another edition

5.0

I absolutely loved this beautiful coming-of-age novel. This novel had so much to say about racism, about generational trauma, about mental health, and I was there for all of it. The audio narration was absolutely superb.

ferris_mx's review against another edition

5.0

Brilliant, if at times a bit hard to follow the complex family tree that forms the backbone of the novel. I learned a lot about racism in my country, how it blocks happiness of white and Black people both, but how the structural hatred and inequality has caused deep wounds that have not yet healed, and might never heal. It's amazing that until recently, it was possible to get secondhand anecdotes of slaves - there were people alive who knew people who had been slaves. I'd like to read it again one day.

fromsarahsbooknook's review against another edition

5.0

THE LOVE SONGS OF W. E. B. Du BOIS is a nearly 800-page family epic following the family history of our main character, Ailey Garfield. Jeffers has called it a “kitchen table epic” because it tells the stories of heroic Black women and I love that description so much. LOVE SONGS is stunning and moving and despite not being an “easy” read, it’s surprisingly easy to read — which I think is a testament to Jeffers’ talent.

I’m not sure you need too many words from me about this book. For more, I recommend perusing the Oprah’s Book Club resources and the NPR interview with Honoree Fanonne Jeffers and Noel King from August 2021. This one will stay with me for a long time.

CW: You probably know the book covers slavery, and that gets ugly fast, but also be aware there’s a significant amount of sexual abuse in the story.

bzoetbzoet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

bkkreader's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars.

treberry's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

I enjoyed this book; a multigenerational African American story. It was like taking all the family’s history, secrets and shame and putting it all on the floor! There were many moments where I felt overwhelmed with emotion, especially during Lydia’s section and the sections with rape. It was very unsettling. 

Initially I thought this was an autobiography or a book of poetry. After reading I see that the title was pretty deceiving, although I really loved Uncle Root and David’s intellectual debates about WEB vs Booker T. I’d like to know more of the link between this story and WEB DuBois. 

My absolute constant favorite part of the book was Uncle Root! I adored he and Ailey’s close relationship!!

Here are some things that kinda tipped the scales:

The length! 800+ pages, 30 plus hours of audio. Reading this felt like a marathon. 

The flow! I was very lost with the historical portion. There were several characters introduced in the beginning, then about 10% in, then 1/2 way and all the while there were 15 other characters being introduced within this time. Around 35% I stopped trying to figure out who was who…

Redundancy of the most awful scenes, many trigger warnings, very depressing/horrific moments. How much of Aileys sex life was really needed? How many times did Scooter need to invite Ailey to dinner with him and Rebecca? 

Ailey never really seemed to have growth for me. As an adolescent we saw her with “boys, drugs, sex, school”, and as an adult we saw her with “men, drugs, sex, school/research”. 

Was the focus a family drenched in centuries of violation, rape, abuse? Suffering, heartache and tragedy? Where was the redemption? Was it the secret Ailey discovered in the end? How will this knowledge effect the family going forward?

We get a few different narratives, and I believe Ailey was the main character connecting us to the family, past and present (thru ancestral research and present family relationships). Lidia also had a story, which was very strong and straightforward. However, there were other POVs such as their mother, Belle, who I just didn’t understand where it was going. I know that she was a woman who wanted more for herself than being a wife/mother, but that’s where the buck stopped. Why did everyone make it their business to protect her, over protecting the children?

Also, the third sister CoCo just seemed to fade in and out, with no real purpose. I guess she really was the forgotten child she proclaimed to be. I just don’t understand why have 2 fleshed out storylines from the daughters and only introduce one that was an afterthought.

Also, the POV from the 1800s+… who was this person? We get more of the familial hierarchy as the story goes, but as I said before, the flow was completely off for me and I just didn’t care to connect the dots. 

The ending! Who was the long haired woman? Who was the man and the children singing? What was the ending?

I could benefit from watching the author discuss the book for more detail. I was happy to be read and discuss this with a book club! Most of them enjoyed the book but had the same questions that I had. There was much confusion, but we all agreed that it was a good read!!

jerzgrl626's review against another edition

4.0

This was a beautifully woven story with so many layers delving into race, history, and equality. I loved how the stories of the families of the past and of the present were intertwined throughout the book and I loved learning the history of Georgia dating back to pre-Civil War times. My true rating is 4.5 stars. It just misses 5 because I felt that the ending was a bit abrupt but, overall, worth the time to read all 800 pages!