zoenelson's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Zora Neale Hurston provides us with an account of one of the last slaves brought to the United States through a participant-observer methodology. She provides Cujo's story through his own narrative. 

As readers, we confront uncomfortable truths about U.S. history and are forced to dismantle the falsehoods we've been deceived into believing. In my mind, Cudjo's story puts words and history to the collective trauma of millions of Africans forced into slavery in the U.S.

Besides Cudjo's words, I loved the editor's notes. She provided important context and a wealth of original thought to this story. 

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hillysreads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


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og_tomatogirl's review

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dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75


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sophmcgraw's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0


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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative slow-paced

4.0

I thought the introduction was really interesting, but I'm not sure why I had a hard time getting into the story. It's very possible that I would like this more at a more focused time in the future. 

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kwilson2512's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.0


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scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective

4.0

Zero sugarcoating history, just the way I like it. ZNH's conversation with Kossolo is set in a way that lets him tell his story in all its entirety, dialect and all. The narration for the audiobook felt like I was talking to him directly. It was rough to get through a lot of parts because of the themes but that is the nature of the entire story. Discomfort ought to be expected, and it is important for readers to deal with the discomfort. A definite recommend for anyone looking to pick up an important non-fiction for Black History Month.

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tinyflame4's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.0


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mcfarleyems's review

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challenging emotional informative fast-paced

5.0

How do you give a rating to a book as important as this one? 

This book broke my heart and took me on an important and informative journey. I learned so much about Kossula’s life, of course, but I also learned to sit in the discomfort of reading the book. I became aware of my own blind spots in history, which contributed to my own biases. Being able to read this book is a gift. 

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pinkalpaca's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


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