A review by lexhop
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

 I couldn’t put it down. The magical realism was a powerful aspect to the story that spoke to the outside forces, ancestry, and gods who push us along. At first I found it distracting, but I realized that the story was really about this Goddess and ancestry with the backdrop being chattel slavery, which is why it wasn’t a solid 5 for me. I wanted more of the story of chattel slavery. But with this realization I was able to merge the stories more seamlessly, but still did miss some of the plot points re: Annis’ life in Louisiana. This adds to the cannon of Black magical realism like Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Colston Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. Like the rest of Ward’s work the prose is poetic and the story is vivid.