Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

This book was perfect. Simply incredibly perfect. I’ve seen people in the book-osphere that have mentioned wanting to be able to read a book again for the first time, and this is one of those books. I already know that this epic novel is one of my top reads of all time. Yes, I’ve already called it.

So many themes were explored in the centuries covered in this storyline: slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, the displacement and genocide of Indigenous people, sexual assault/incest, casual racism and racial terror, colorism (including passing), distrust, family secrets, drug addiction, segregation, life at an HBCU vs. PWI, the journey through academia as a black person…so many more. Another throughline explored beautifully was the Black American’s relationship to food, and how it could be both soothing and harmful. And of course, Du Bois!! His pen is razor-sharp and I absolutely love how the quotes at the beginning of each Song were so superbly chosen for that portion of the book. Ultimately, the strong family bonds wrapped me up like a warm, cozy blanket, even when the family dealt with strife and pain.

Now, there are SEVERAL triggers in this book, and several themes mentioned above are explored in rather explicit detail. If you haven't yet started on the path to healing for those triggers (mainly sexual assault and abuse), some parts of this story may be too heavy for you. I finished some chapters and had to close my eyes and decompress.

Jeffers' writing style is exquisite. I particularly enjoyed the historical anchors (beyond simple dates) included throughout the novel that oriented me to time and place. It's easy to tell that she's a poet by the phrasing and descriptions used throughout. Her world-building was so expansive and wonderfully done that I blinked and devoured 50-100 pages at a time. I actually read all except the very first chapter in 8 days - I didn't mind reading all 800 pages quickly!

Simply put, read this book. And if you’ve already read this and are equally as enamored with this type of story as I am, I strongly recommend Some Sing, Some Cry by Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza.

Content Warnings

vicktorea's review against another edition

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emotional reflective

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? Yes

4.75

wow. a literal Black epic!

this was so fantastic! i loved the deep dive into Black history and learning the deep roots of the characters! i felt so deeply connected to them - i laughed with them, grieved with them, felt their anger and frustrations and also felt moments of anger and frustration towards them.

This was looong but everything was interwoven and came together beautifully! A very memorable read!

I listened to the audio for this via Hoopla and really enjoyed the narration!

I urge to check the CWs for this - there are many! Some of the most notable being: rape, (child/domestic/physical/emotional) abuse, /pedophilia/molestation, racism, slavery. The author does not shy away from depicting the realistic historical mistreatment of Black people (particularly young, Black, female slaves).

Content Warnings

thisreadingcorner's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

Content Warnings

satashii's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

3.5

This is one of those books that you probably should read because of how informative and in-your—face it is about uncomfortable things—the black experience in Georgia going back to the 1600s when the land was occupied by the Creek. It’s informative but also heart breaking in so many ways.

So why such a low rating?

Because this is a book that, imo, needed an editor to make it a tighter story. There’s a good 200 pages of this book that make the story drag on and on. If I hadn’t already hit the halfway point when it really started to slow it’s momentum I’d probably would have DNF’d it but I slogged ahead determined to finish.

Was the end worth it? Yes. Did I think the main character Ailey had an effective character arc? Somewhat.

Spoiler

I really struggled with Ailey being the spoiled younger daughter that wasn’t really growing up/maturing. While I was sympathetic to Lydia’s death and how devastating it was for her, she could be a selfish brat for the middle third of this book that was not endearing her to me. Her relationships with men and how toxic they were I felt distracted a lot from the other parts of the narrative and the back and forth between present and past didn’t always feel like it was integrating well. Tbh I would have probably been more interested in seeing Coco’s viewpoint rather than Lydia’s drug spiral. In the end, I wasn’t wholly satisfied by Ailey’s relationship choices other than I did like that she seemed to be ending up with David at the end.

So subtracting one star for the need for editing and another half star for what felt like, to me, like gratuitous lingering on sex scenes that weren’t really driving the narrative further and felt distracting.

Overall, I’d recommend it as a read if you haven’t read Toni Morrison’s work or Octavia Butler’s Kindred… but I’d probably recommend them over this book.

Content Warnings

lauravreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring relaxing sad 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? No

5.0

Following two timelines, one in the late 1700s and the other in the 1970s. The timeline in the 1700s follows an indigenous and African mixed community and how they experience colonization which will soon transition into slavery. In the 1970s timeline it follows a young teenager.

This is hands down the best book I have ever read! I know there is already hype for this book but it honestly deserves more. I was left in awe when I finished. This book has some favorite such as tropes multiple timelines and multigenerational family narrations. It is so well written with easy to love characters. I felt so deeply while reading it was hard not to with the writing and depth in it.

I literally have nothing bad to say. It was a perfect 5⭐️ for me.

Content Warnings

deereadingwallflower's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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