A review by dekedescombes
The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race by Jesmyn Ward

4.0

Individually, each piece provoked me, but overall the reading experience isn’t smooth as there are huge jumps in style, time, and theme between the essays/stories. Sometimes this was frustrating or even distracting since different works required different types of engagement. Pieces don’t build on each other in ways that could deepen the collection. Ward goes out of her way to establish the categories of each of the three sections (roughly past, present, future) and without that establishing, the sections wouldn’t be easily defined. Without taking anything out, a much better flow could be achieved.

The writing is fantastic. A handful of the pieces I’ve shared with friends. Two are still living rent-free in my head months later.

5 stars for the individual writings, 3 stars for anthology cohesiveness.