A review by thecriticalreader
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

Context:
I chose Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward for my November 2023 Book of the Month pick. It is my second Jesmyn Ward book; I read Sing, Unburied, Sing a while back and loved it.
 
Review:
I had a lot of conflicting thoughts when reading Let Us Descend. Ward is an incredibly talented writer, and this book features many instances of her beautiful prose. I love the way she describes things—from the natural world to character descriptions, Let Us Descend is full of evocative word choices. On the other hand, the main character Annis and her central storyline felt flat to me. The story places a lot of emotional weight on Annis’s relationship with her mother and a fellow enslaved girl, but these relationships are hastily developed. Annis herself remains somewhat of a blank slate; I found the story’s side characters to be much more interesting.
 
In general, I liked the portions of the story in which Annis interacts with other people and disliked the portions that involved the spirit world. I’m not opposed to magical realism, but the fantasy elements in Let Us Descend really, really did not work for me. I cannot see what they contribute to Annis’s story or the thematic elements of the story as a whole. Naturally, the last part of the book, which follows Annis’s journey with the spirits, dragged for me. It felt like Ward used the last portion of the book as a personal emotional catharsis, and in the process lost sight of the story. 
 
The Run-Down: 
You might like Let Us Descend if . . . 
·      You want to read an empowering magical realism story about slavery that draws upon Dante’s Inferno
·      You appreciate beautiful sentences
 
You might not like Let Us Descend if . . . 
·      You disliked unexplained magical elements
·      You want a book with a well-written main character and a tightly constructed plot 
·      You don’t want to read descriptions that border on body horror
 
A Similar Book: 
Trinity by Zelda Lockhart. 
Similarities include:
·      Magical realism/Black Americans haunted by spirits
·      Lyrical writing
·      Thematic exploration of the power of maternal love and intergenerational strength
 
Key Differences include:
·      Trinity takes place in the twentieth century, Let Us Descend in the nineteenth
·      Trinity features three POVs, whereas Let Us Descend has one POV
 
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