rlgreen91's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
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? Yes
5.0
What a gorgeous, gorgeous book. I deeply enjoyed The Women of Brewster Place and Linden Hills - this has to be one of the greatest opening sequences of novels by a writer of all time.
There's a lot to like in this novel - of course you have Naylor's beautiful prose, describing both the natural world around us and bouts of magical realism. Mama Day and Abigail are reminiscent of so many of the Black women I've knowing throughout my life. I think if I had to pick one part of the novel I'd love to unpack more, it would be the relationship between Cocoa and George. I'll admit - I had a hard time at first believing their relationship would last. In my reading, they both seemed too inflexible to do the compromising necessary to be in a relationship with someone. While I don't think you should change yourself for the sake of being in a relationship, you do need to shift your life to be able to live in relation to the other person - and it was hard to imagine that they would do that. But they did over time, and it was great to see that type of shift depicted, even if they still got on each other's nerves a lot. A lid for every pot, I guess.
I do wish I had been able to attend the book club discussion for this one - I would have enjoyed hearing others' thoughts. Perhaps I'll stumble upon a group discussion for it in the future. Great book - 5 stars easy.
There's a lot to like in this novel - of course you have Naylor's beautiful prose, describing both the natural world around us and bouts of magical realism. Mama Day and Abigail are reminiscent of so many of the Black women I've knowing throughout my life. I think if I had to pick one part of the novel I'd love to unpack more, it would be the relationship between Cocoa and George. I'll admit - I had a hard time at first believing their relationship would last. In my reading, they both seemed too inflexible to do the compromising necessary to be in a relationship with someone. While I don't think you should change yourself for the sake of being in a relationship, you do need to shift your life to be able to live in relation to the other person - and it was hard to imagine that they would do that. But they did over time, and it was great to see that type of shift depicted, even if they still got on each other's nerves a lot. A lid for every pot, I guess.
I do wish I had been able to attend the book club discussion for this one - I would have enjoyed hearing others' thoughts. Perhaps I'll stumble upon a group discussion for it in the future. Great book - 5 stars easy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Infertility, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Abandonment
Minor: Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Suicidal thoughts
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