Reviews

The Color of Life: A Journey toward Love and Racial Justice by Cara Meredith, James Meredith

calli_the_flower's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

3.75

common_household_mom's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

katieproctorbooks's review against another edition

5.0

I was blessed to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and here it is. This book was beautiful. It was part memoir, part love story, part history, part research. Cara Meredith was so vulnerable in sharing her own journey toward racial justice, unraveling her own deep-ingrained biases, her own (sometimes painful) learning process as she, a white woman, married a black man and is raising their children. The writing was beautiful, the information woven in in such a meaningful way, and I found it to be so hopeful. As a white woman learning as much as I can about racial reconciliation and social justice, this book gave me so much.

suzanne_slagell's review against another edition

5.0

Written with tremendous humility, Cara recounts her story of interracial marriage and parenting. This is the perfect book to start conversations regarding race issues in our country and what it all means for the very real people living at the certain of these hot button topics. It was incredibly moving as a memoir, but Cara definitely goes beyond memoir to some true education regarding history and racial disparities. I enjoyed every minute.

gtmommy05's review against another edition

3.0

This is more a 3.5. It was hard to determine if this was supposed to be just historical or more of a memoir. Being a mix of both, it seemed it didn't fully deliver on either.

themartinmama's review against another edition

5.0

This book has encouraged me to dig even deeper into our nation's history than I already have done. It encourages me to not stop teaching my own children, blonde and blue eyed, about equality and justice and God's love of all people and how he offers dignity to all. And woven through the whole book is Cara's story of love and learning.

nicoletwalters's review

5.0

If you aren’t sure where you fit in the conversation on racial justice, if you aren’t sure why all this talk about race right now even matters—read The Color of Life. Cara Meredith weaves theology and history into a compelling personal story with the humility and compassion of a mother struggling how to understand how racism will impact her own sons. This book is a place to start and especially if you are a white brother or sister, I hope it is a start indeed. We have a long way to go and we can only do it together.

**I received an advance copy from the publisher for an honest reveiw**

panda_incognito's review against another edition

3.0

This is a memoir by the white wife of one of James Meredith's sons. It was interesting to me on that basis alone, but I ended up finding the book disappointing, because even though it addresses the weight of her husband's family history, the unique challenges of an inter-racial marriage, important elements of Black history, and the author's education and personal transformation, she wrote almost all of the family-oriented parts in a fluffy, gushing, and sappy way.

Her voice very much fits with that of popular bloggers from the 2010s, and since she was in that world, I will try to cut her some slack. Still, I had a hard time with her cutesy language, emotional gushing, and long-winded, over-explained personal anecdotes, especially since they contrasted so poorly with the seriousness of her primary subject. Other people are likely to enjoy this book far more than I did, but the author's voice did not resonate with me.

kegenes's review against another edition

4.0

Cara’s story is funny, engaging, and thought provoking all at once. I quickly read the book, but came back again and again to different sections of the book to re-read and consider.

I highly recommend the book.

estherd1's review against another edition

3.0

Too many spinoffs and tangents about Jesus and others topics. It could have been condensed with a much more powerful message. The extraneous details takes away from the powerful bottom line.