Reviews

The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom

margonicolson's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.75


mitchelljoneill's review against another edition

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3.0

I’m not sure why I struggled to get through this book so much. I think going into the book I expected something a little bit different.

The family is very large and difficult to keep track of, it’s no ones fault and I think it’s just very difficult to write about everyone and give everyone the floor.

I loved reading about Carl and any sections about the hurricane, they shined and were easy and quick to read. However there were many dull moments in this book and I often struggled finding a groove.

While this wasn’t my favorite memoir I did learn a ton about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. I picked up another book about Hurricane Katrina that I am excited to read called Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, I’m thinking I will enjoy it much more.

littlefreediverselibrariesgl's review against another edition

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Too slow, didn't feel connected to the characters. Too much description, too little action. 

mdettmann's review against another edition

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3.0

This book is so detailed, even my detail loving self felt like it was tedious. The intricate family back stories weren’t hard to follow because the pacing was so slow, but then it was so slow I would constantly have to put this down for fear I was losing focus. The second half which included how Katrina affected her family and their Yellow House was the most riveting. That could have been a book all on its own, in my opinion. Overall I think Bloom’s story is a powerful one, but I was just so bogged down by the details that I’d recommend for those with the stamina to stay with it.

k8lovesbread's review against another edition

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informative relaxing sad slow-paced

3.5

jeannamarie's review against another edition

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5.0

As a designer in architecture, hearing this story of the yellow house through the lives of the people who lived there is truly special. Buildings typically have a long lifespan, they see so much and slowly begin to tell their own stories. Broom really does a spectacular job of conveying how the yellow house was their constant throughout all the phases and trials of their lives. Even when Katrina devastates their neighborhood, she realizes the house is them. They are all one with the house, despite being in various locations. As a designer this book was special to read for those reasons, as well as dissecting the urban racial and environmental justice aspects of the story.

Broom goes through a fairly detailed account and summation of the New Orleans area and development. This is such an important read to understand not only the political implications of what is happening in our country (happening each decade over and over), but how the people feel about the issues from generation to generation as well.

Probably one of my favorite reads in my semi short life. Made me laugh, tear up and created some thought provoking dialogue between myself, family and friends.

sueotwell's review against another edition

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3.0

I enjoyed parts of this book. The beginning drug on for me and was hard to keep up with the many names and relation to each other. I drug through that part and when I convinced myself to continue I started to enjoy the aspect of it and for the group of people this story was about (at least the middle portion of the book). I would never have finished this book had it not been a One Book One Community book club read and if a friend would not have encouraged me to continue reading it. I didn't have issue with the writing itself (I listened on audio book) but parts just drug out and I couldn't find the purpose for all of the dragging. I typically read for entertainment and this book was not written for that purpose so I had a hard time connecting to the story although I did get more understanding of that part of New Orleans and daily struggles for those people.
Overall this was just an ok book for me. Again I was able to finish it so that is a plus for me personally! I do think it was worth the read and the conversations it sparked during our book club discussion was great.

bookish_karin's review against another edition

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4.0

This took me a while to work through, but persistence payed off. The start is slow. Almost painfully so. But the story unfurls and it all makes sense, why the first chapters are so critical.

lisettemarie's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5


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xtina114's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0