Reviews

Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo

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emmajuliette96's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad 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

5.0

beatrice0607's review against another edition

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slow-paced

1.5

helene250's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense

5.0

This is such an important book. Changing the perspective of slavery can help us realize how important it is to continue to be anti-racist and to fight for reparations for our Black siblings who have been hurt by us and our ancestors.

Content Warnings

rosiefpb's review against another edition

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3.0

A kind of satire based on an inverse slave trade. There were bits I enjoyed but as you might expect, a lot of it was horrifying and disgusting, which was hard to digest, but I also found the changing narrator hard to follow in terms of who was who (listening to the audiobook), and for such a moving premise, I found it hard to connect to the characters emotionally. I think sticking with one POV would've been more effective.

cr0wnofthemoon's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

lucyvf's review against another edition

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2.0

Such a disappointment after Girl, Woman, Other. A story of the slave trade in reverse (Africans taking slaves from Europe) Interesting in parts, but I found quite a few elements of the story annoying and it really dragged. I quite liked the middle section which was from a different perspective - horrible character, but very engaging character voice.

emmabeckman's review

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4.0

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It is in turns funny and dead serious. I think the quote on the cover says it the best: "Breathtaking...Ingenious...A riotous, bitter course in the arbitrary nature of our cultural values." - The Washington Post Book World

I think this book does a great job emphasizing that any and all judgements we make on other cultures are arbitrary products of our own culture. It is a great study in cultural anthropology, and I think it is well-written to show how others view our traditions as bizarre and confusing (did that sentence even make sense?). Plus, Bernardine Evaristo's writing is just generally wonderful anyway. I think this particular story lost me a bit in Book Three, but I was really hooked by Book One especially. I also wish there was more of an exploration of a world where the folks in the position of power aren't as confined by a binary gender system, and how that system is imprinted on the enslaved people.