Reviews

Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid

anna6carnegie's review against another edition

5.0

After reading Kincaid's non fic Among Flowers, I was a little unsure about Lucy living up to my expectations. Whilst I enjoyed Among Flowers, it lacked the depth and concise prose I had expected from Kincaid. Lucy however, had it all - sharpness and wit with a head strong yet reflective narrator etc, I could go on. Although short, it certainly makes a strong impact and I'm so glad I read it, stars all round & I highly recommend!

cenielie's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

smartiebooknerd's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

tiisetsoo's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• 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

nolemdaer's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

So stellar, so well-wrought, so thoughtful and spiky and fathomless.

vendelaaa's review against another edition

Långtråkig, osammanhängande. Orkade inte mer. 

leonrascal's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

ceceewing_'s review against another edition

2.0

*Rereading this book. First time I read it was in 2013 for a class, now I'm rereading for another class for the exact same professor. Clearly she adores this book. Hoping I get more out of it this time.

Update: I got nothing new out of it the second time around. I just don't care about Lucy. Her character doesn't make sense to me and her story frustrates me in ways that I don't find very productive. Not to mention the fact that I hate the ending and the way it just drops off without a real conclusion, in my opinion. Clearly this story is super not for me.

lilliangrey's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• 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

3.75

Perhaps I should come to this book again, when I am not forced to study it for class. That being said, I enjoyed this book extensively, Jamaica Kincaid has a way of describing some of the darkest emotions that I have never felt in a way that is so dominant, you cannot go about the rest of your day without thinking about the book. I think that is one of the ways a reader can tell when an author has touched on personal experiences as opposed to embellished ones. A lot of strange complexities arose from this book, and as I did my research for class I was uncovering more and more layers to the interconnectedness of this narrative to the various experiences of Black women. It is always important, especially with a book such as this, to do extra research behind the author and their motives, for there is so much to deduce when context is given; so many questions become answered. Like I said, I ought to reread this book in the near future, as it was something I (foolishly) engaged with momentarily, and a book as vast as this requires far more involvement than what I could give it at the time. 

adrianajimenez's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Such a beautiful, beautiful book. I feel like it described the complicated emotions that come with immigrating so well, at least ones I could relate to, and the whole book just felt so human. It was a very honest book, and I could connect with the main character like I haven't with many others. That feeling of numbness and like you don't care about anything or the people around you, but really you do, and then one day it all the emotions just come over you - I have never been able to put that feeling into words as well as this book did.