The switch to part ghost story halfway through the book was really not needed at all in my opinon; I believe the author should have stuck with the ghost story thing all the way through because it was somewhat important to the plot at the end.

I do believe that some of the topics discussed in this book were things that needed to be talked about to reflect on the character's life experiences (that shaped them to be the people they were during the story). Please read warning tags if you're going to read this book, because most trigger warnings listed are extremely graphic and descriptive. This last sentence ties into the fact that I actually felt sick reading the first chapter of the book because of the descriptions (which I won't spoil, nor could I stomach to do that. Read the tags). Overall, it wasn't terrible enough for me to give it a 1. I feel like the author really wanted you to hate everybody except the main character and the younger sister by the end of the book because they were all bad and doing bad things. I really still don't understand what I was supposed to get out of this book. I was hoping to come out of it with some new outlook on life or something like that, no matter how small it was. All I came out of this reading experience with was a hatred for coming-of-age novels.

TLDR; The book wasn't the worst thing I've read, but it's really close to the worst. The story was lacking and the themes throughout it were difficult for me to understand. If you're looking for a good coming-of-age novel, this should not be anywhere near the top of your choices.

Content Warnings

januaryghosts's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

jadeanne's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. The story was captivating and pays tribute to Toni Morrison's Beloved (which I also thought was genius). The characters were complicated and even though Leoni was a frustrating character, she wasn't one-dimensional. There were moments when I felt more than just anger with her character. Quick read as well.

Content Warnings

avareadsoccasionally's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Really beautiful. It was lyrical at times and I really liked that. I read it quickly and it got me out of a slump. There’s nothing better than an author that really knows what’s up and how to express themselves through their writing

Content Warnings

cptnsulu's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

mamatoca's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

Beautiful writing, but just so full of trauma with little hope of redemption. This book gave me nightmares. The magical realism was confusing and inconsistent for me.

Content Warnings

perdita's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

sydneythekydneybean's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I really wanted to like this book. It's one of my friend's favorite books, it's our next book club book, and I hate being that person who goes to a book club with negative or neutral things to say about something many people love.

I don't know what it was about Sing, Unburied, Sing that I didn't like. Out of all of the characters, Richie's story was the most intriguing and interesting, and the relationship between Jojo and Pop was mesmerizing and, honestly, something I wish we focused more on instead of Jojo and Kayla's relationship with their mother and father (which... I have many, many words to say about them and their particular parenting style, but I will plead the fifth here). Jesmyn Ward is undeniably a very good writer, but sometimes I felt like her lyrical prose outweighed the voice of the character we were in the head of. In the end, it might have been that which led me not to feel as connected to the characters as I wanted to. Some worked (see Richie), but many didn't (see Leonie).

It's a beautifully written and important book about poverty, family, racism, the ghosts of our pasts, and the hopes for our futures, but ultimately, it just wasn't for me.

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