Reviews

The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter & Other Essential Ghosts by Soraya Palmer

deshanta's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

2.25

lottie1803's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

amacks's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars rounded up. Palmer had me entertained from beginning to end, and skillfully wove in a lot of themes throughout some difficult family dynamics. I love the way she used folklore. But I don’t know why, my interest started to wane more about midway through

mdookwah's review against another edition

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Too much like another book I’m reading currently (Babylon) 

arrivingstill's review against another edition

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

4.0

thisblackgirlreads's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was everything! It captured me from beginning to end.

The story follows a Jamaican Trinidadian family through different generations and looks at sisterhood, marriage, family, and of course secrets. Embed within the narrative is spiritual folklore and tons of magical realism. A great read.

vicmisc's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a layered story about stories and how our lives become mythologized. You could tell how much the author cared about telling this story and sharing the lives of these characters. It had some excellent dialog as well.
At times, I did find myself a little lost with the back and forth narration style, but I am gonna blame that on reading it through audio. The performance itself was excellent, but I think I would have been able to follow the switches better by reading a physical copy.

cocoaqueenk's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense

4.0

There is real magic in these pages, where such an intricate web was spun. I could hardly put it down. 

If you liked Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (which I LOVED), you should definitely read this.

intersectionalbookshelf's review against another edition

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5.0

I was absolutely blown away by Soraya’s ability to effortlessly interweave Jamaican and Trinidadian folklore and tales into a variety of contemporary themes including family, sexuality, gender identity, sexual violence, illness, death and much more.

The haunting yet magical storytelling of the book means it’s difficult to put down. For me the sisterhood and female intergenerational relationships were an absolute chefs kiss, highlighting the power, beauty and tragedy of passing in wisdom and trauma.

The style of this book is like no other making space for you as the reader to imagine some of your own experiences (such as loosing your virginity ..). This triggered a lot of strange feelings for me but I felt like overall it contributed to the uniqueness of the book.

Ad: Thanks a lot to Serpent’s Tail for brining this book into my life ❤️

gz62jackson's review against another edition

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dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • 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

4.75