amachattie's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book had so many beautiful and important things to say. It is such an incredible rewriting of the 18th century's natural history peak to include the silenced voices behind the stories we know. It also, of course, has so many things to say about race, about white saviourism, about the possibility of genuine caring relationships of equals across race and class, about the legacy of slavery. The line about a character having more concern about slavery's stain on whiteness than about slavery's effects on the peoplewho were enslaved will stick with me for a long time. All of this said, I felt frustrated that the ending framed the book as being about Wash's relationship with Titch, instead of about Wash's journey towards healing, though maybe they are the same thing. I feel like this wasn't the book I wanted to read right now, but that I loved it anyways.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, Body horror, and Suicide
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