caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Death of parent, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Drug use, Child death, Cursing, Death, Pregnancy, and Suicide
asiamh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Infidelity
Moderate: Body horror, Police brutality, Torture, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Unabridged
I think I would have loved this more if I physically read it, because I've been enjoying generational stories following a matriarchal set up recently, however I couldn't follow along strongly to the threads of who connected to who and place the character I knew as a child to the adult in the second half.
Despite this, I could easily tell that this was a powerful novel. There was so many interesting and strong characters and I enjoyed seeing the two sides of why Melancons sold pieces of their caul in comparison to those they wouldn't sell to or who didn't agree with it. It got even more deep when Hallow was brought into the mixture.
The content surrounding caul babies was unique to me as I hadn't known much about these births before, and recognised it under the term "mermaid births", so it was cool to explore the mythos around this.
The conclusion was fantastic and I felt really satisfied with it.
This was a dark, deep generational story, that felt a little magical, but with a heavy hand of corruption, that was executed beautifully and I think I would benefit from going over a physical copy at a later stage to piece together some of the connections I lost track of via audio.
Graphic: Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Abandonment
sierranichole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Medical content, Abandonment, Infertility, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Violence, Police brutality, and Racial slurs
peachani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Blood, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
Minor: Child death, Terminal illness, Vomit, Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Genocide
bookshelf_al's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Body horror and Infidelity
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
arrakistowesteros's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Miscarriage and Infertility
Moderate: Infidelity
_everybookthisyear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Pregnancy and Infertility
Minor: Infidelity
leah_alexandra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Police brutality
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I listened to the audiobook and read along with the ebook for parts of it, which I don’t do very often (I rarely have two versions of a book haha), but I did enjoy that experience! The audio is well narrated and the book well written. The story does jump around a lot (sometimes several years between scenes) but there’s nice consistency with most of the characters. I was invested in the plot the whole time too.
The story is told in third person omniscient, which is my least favorite point-of-view style. But there is some nice character development, especially with Amara and Hallow, and I enjoyed both of their journeys.
Thank you to Libro.fm, Harper Audio, and the author for my ALC!
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Racism