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saffista's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Grief
jakobmarleymommy's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, and Grief
beccacondon's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
ka_cam's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.5
Brutal and lyrical, follows a young woman born into US slavery and sold down the river after her mother and with, though quickly separated from, her lover. Spirit-ful and spiritual reflections on grief, intergenerational trauma, mother’s love, the connections between people, places and times. Good, heartbreaking, read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sperzart's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, and Slavery
christine_s's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Loved the prose and writing style, completing drew me in from the beginning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Trafficking
Moderate: Gore, Hate crime, and Kidnapping
natalieba's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
Loved this one, even though it was tough to get through at times. Her writing is beautiful and I wanted to pick it up despite the difficult content. The main character was interesting and well-drawn, and I enjoyed the spiritual/magical aspect of the novel -that Annis drew strength from the spirits around her was compelling and thought-provoking. Highly recommend the audio, which is ready by the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
mugsandmanuscripts's review
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It's hard to write a book about slavery that strikes the balance between a realistic portrayal of the brutality of the institution and the resilience of the human spirit. I think Jesmyn Ward mastered it in this book.
The violence of slavery—physical, emotional, and sexual—cannot be overstated (and should never be understated). For that reason, I was hesitant to read this book. As I work on decolonizing my bookshelves, I've been adding books that speak to the experience of being Black in America, and part of that is reading slavery narratives (both historical and fictional). These narratives are always heavy and never easy. But I keep reminding myself that if people experienced this violence, I have no excuse for not reading about it.
That said, Let Us Descend is heavy, but artfully crafted and beautiful in its portrayal of the human spirit. The book follows Annis (nicknamed Arese by her mother) on her harrowing journey from the plantation on which she was born (the product of the slaveowner and one of his slaves) to another plantation to which she is sold and beyond. It starts with her close relationship with her loving mother and follows the other relationships Annis cultivates in spite of (and because of) her status as a slave.
The relationships Annis develops—some more intimate/longer than others—form the heart of the novel and the life of our main character. Each relationship becomes a part of who Annis is. Along her journey, she becomes acquainted with several ancestral spirits, one in particular who has followed three generations of women in Annis's family line.
Over the course of the novel, Annis fights to develop her own sense of self, which is especially difficult given that she lives within the confines of slavery. The result is a beautiful story woven with strings of loss, strength, love, grief, oppression, resilience and self-discovery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Racism, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence
bibliobritt's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
This book is arrestingly beautiful. It’s also brutal. In the words of Glennon Doyle Melton, from "Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed": “Life is brutal, but it’s also beautiful. Life is brutiful.”
Jesmyn Ward’s latest novel is just that-- brutiful. It’s simultaneously a difficult and fast read; it oozes poetic language and magic realism. Each of the thirteen chapters reads like a short story within a larger narrative.
Even though Let Us Descend is historical fiction and contains fantastical elements, it feels more real than most nonfiction narratives I’ve read about slavery in America.
Annis is the child of an enslaved woman, whose mother descends from Africa, and her father is her “sire”-- the white man who owns her. His white children are her half-sisters. Annis’s mother teaches her from a young age that she, though born into slavery, is her own weapon.
The spirits guiding Annis through rings of hell that mirror Dante’s inferno are both comforting and confusing to both the protagonist and the reader-- but maybe that’s the point. Annis’s path to survival is anything but clear, and it’s ultimately a journey she has to feel her way through on her own.
Jesmyn Ward’s writing is one-of-a-kind, and the imagery and language presented here was often so poignant that I had to stop reading and just savor it (or allow myself to reflect on what happened for a period of time). When I first started reading, I’d read a chapter each night, then forcefully stop-- falling asleep while mulling over Annis’ fate and Ward’s language. This is a heavy novel, and it’s often hard to keep going. Though once I grew accustomed to this “brutiful” heaviness, I couldn’t put it down.
As soon as I finished "Let Us Descend," I felt compelled to read it again-- to allow myself to savor the magically painted words once more. That said, many of the hardships presented here are tough to read once, let alone a second time. If it’s this hard to read it, what was it like for Ward to write it? I wonder if writing such a visceral novel is traumatic, cathartic, or both. And most importantly, how is it possible that millions of enslaved people experienced such daily abuse and somehow survived? Ward’s novel will make your heart ache for fictional Annis and the other (fictional) brave, captured people in her world, but it will also give you new, unflinching insight into the very real people and the very real atrocities they experienced at the hands of their captors.
The fact that much of the novel takes place in and around New Orleans, made it hit closer to home for me. I’ve visited slave auction landmarks in the French Quarter and sugarcane plantations outside of the city, where I learned about the grueling harvests in the killer cane fields. The scenes Ward paints here allowed those inhumane, gruesome realities to come to life for me. As Ward so brutifully writes, “No life here, no soft touch but in recollection, recollection that floats high above the dreamers, churning with sorrow, with remembrance. It deepens in the quiet.”
If I could, I would give this book 6 stars out of 5. This book is like none other, and everyone should read it.
Jesmyn Ward’s latest novel is just that-- brutiful. It’s simultaneously a difficult and fast read; it oozes poetic language and magic realism. Each of the thirteen chapters reads like a short story within a larger narrative.
Even though Let Us Descend is historical fiction and contains fantastical elements, it feels more real than most nonfiction narratives I’ve read about slavery in America.
Annis is the child of an enslaved woman, whose mother descends from Africa, and her father is her “sire”-- the white man who owns her. His white children are her half-sisters. Annis’s mother teaches her from a young age that she, though born into slavery, is her own weapon.
The spirits guiding Annis through rings of hell that mirror Dante’s inferno are both comforting and confusing to both the protagonist and the reader-- but maybe that’s the point. Annis’s path to survival is anything but clear, and it’s ultimately a journey she has to feel her way through on her own.
Jesmyn Ward’s writing is one-of-a-kind, and the imagery and language presented here was often so poignant that I had to stop reading and just savor it (or allow myself to reflect on what happened for a period of time). When I first started reading, I’d read a chapter each night, then forcefully stop-- falling asleep while mulling over Annis’ fate and Ward’s language. This is a heavy novel, and it’s often hard to keep going. Though once I grew accustomed to this “brutiful” heaviness, I couldn’t put it down.
As soon as I finished "Let Us Descend," I felt compelled to read it again-- to allow myself to savor the magically painted words once more. That said, many of the hardships presented here are tough to read once, let alone a second time. If it’s this hard to read it, what was it like for Ward to write it? I wonder if writing such a visceral novel is traumatic, cathartic, or both. And most importantly, how is it possible that millions of enslaved people experienced such daily abuse and somehow survived? Ward’s novel will make your heart ache for fictional Annis and the other (fictional) brave, captured people in her world, but it will also give you new, unflinching insight into the very real people and the very real atrocities they experienced at the hands of their captors.
The fact that much of the novel takes place in and around New Orleans, made it hit closer to home for me. I’ve visited slave auction landmarks in the French Quarter and sugarcane plantations outside of the city, where I learned about the grueling harvests in the killer cane fields. The scenes Ward paints here allowed those inhumane, gruesome realities to come to life for me. As Ward so brutifully writes, “No life here, no soft touch but in recollection, recollection that floats high above the dreamers, churning with sorrow, with remembrance. It deepens in the quiet.”
If I could, I would give this book 6 stars out of 5. This book is like none other, and everyone should read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Abandonment
joblo's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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? No
4.5
Beautifully written, just like Ward’s other novels. It didn’t grab me quite the same way, though— maybe because it covers a much longer timeframe than her other works? Or because the subject matter is so rough? Or because I read it so fast? Either way, I’ll definitely be rereading at some point— Ward’s writing is absolutely incredible and her stories stay with you. Amazing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence