Reviews

Notes on Her Colour by Jennifer Neal

Only show reviews with written explanations

mysimas's review against another edition

The beginning was amazing:

„MY MOTHER COULD CHANGE THE COLOR OF HER skin. From what I’m told, it was a gift she inherited from her mother, who inherited it from her mother before her, passed down from blood to blood along with diseases, artistic hysteria, and a predilection for loving the wrong men. My great-grandmother was an Aniyunwiya witch and used to change color before sneaking into settlements to gather supplies and conduct trade.”

The whole first chapter was like this and really made me believe I was up for a ride. Sadly, the rest didn’t measure up.

The writing stayed fine throughout, even if it went a bit too lyrical for my taste. But the contents are just a thousand and one metaphores about what it’s like to be black and female and queer in America and there’s literally nothing else to water down this onslaught — no plot /just coming of age story/, no compelling character work, nothing. I skimmed to about the half-way mark and there’s still no change for the better, so I’m giving up.

Content Warnings

jay_mone's review against another edition

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There's no central conflict.

authenticakj's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

kay_slayerofbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

This . . . wasn't my favorite. There were a lot of things and concepts that were extremely hard to swallow. And although I 100% believe this was someone's home life and I'm glad Gabrielle was able to overcome it or escape from it, it just took entirely too long.