ajoshi21's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
notallbooks_mp's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? No
5.0
cherreadssharereads's review against another edition
3.25
The beginning sucked me in and then all the spirits three-quarters in spit me straight out. I do love how beautifully this painful story was weaves and how Ward depicts the grueling day-in-and-outs of work slaves were starved and whipped to perform. The longing and grief made so real. But in terms of plot and character dev, I felt like it all lost its way 60% or so through. I still plan to read all of Ward’s backlist that I haven’t touched yet and all of what she writes in the future but this one didn’t work for me.
emilycathn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
3.5
bohemian_yogini's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.75
rementopia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
lexhop's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I couldn’t put it down. The magical realism was a powerful aspect to the story that spoke to the outside forces, ancestry, and gods who push us along. At first I found it distracting, but I realized that the story was really about this Goddess and ancestry with the backdrop being chattel slavery, which is why it wasn’t a solid 5 for me. I wanted more of the story of chattel slavery. But with this realization I was able to merge the stories more seamlessly, but still did miss some of the plot points re: Annis’ life in Louisiana. This adds to the cannon of Black magical realism like Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Colston Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. Like the rest of Ward’s work the prose is poetic and the story is vivid.
bibliotherapy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.5