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lr205's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
4.0
Set in early 1900’s Harlem with the mafia, and later in Oregon where the KKK is active. Too much cursing for me. A surprising mystery though. Well written.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
jennifermreads's review against another edition
In my “reading from shelf” goal, I thought for sure this one would be a winner for me: set in 1920s Portland (in my new home state of Oregon), mobsters, found family, racial tension, dual timeline. When I saw that both Kirkus and Library Journal gave it starred-reviews, I thought I was safe and this book would not be a victim of my “I’m in a reading funk” era.
Alas, I made it to page 108 and just could not find a comfortable rhythm as I bounced from present day and the MC’s previous life in Harlem. I never connected with the language and manner of storytelling. I struggled keeping the characters straight in my head—and there were a lot of characters. But ultimately, because of the number of characters, there were so many storylines and I was overly preoccupied wondering which one of the plot points would be the main one. With my semi-slump of so many hits-then-misses, I am sad this is added to the “miss” side of the equation. But, by page 108, there should be some focus.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Animal cruelty
alannah_irwin's review
hopeful
mysterious
fast-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? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Drug use, Racism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder