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A review by lwalla01
Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
I wasn’t sold on this book when it picked it up. I’m not entirely sure why. I think part of it has to do with the fact I’ve been ranking a lot of books high. And the other part of it had to do with the fact I want to read longer not shorter books. Despite all of my personal biases going into this book - it blew me away. I’m not sure how the author managed to craft such a deep, rich book that makes the reader feel connected to the characters without actually having specific characters or a narrative to follow. This book was unlike any other that I’ve read to date. The writing flows almost in verse. And the protagonist is “brown girls.” The author did wonders by allowing “brown girls” to be both specific and universal. It was a feat that I don’t think many authors could pull off.
I was also impressed with the way this fictional narrative told a story of living in the United States as a child of immigrants. I think the experience is very unique, and the author did a great job of showing how one can be both colonized & colonizer at the same time. It’s a nuance that’s often lost in conversation; so I was pleasantly surprised to see it come up in this book. There’s a lot of good things in these 200 pages.
I was also impressed with the way this fictional narrative told a story of living in the United States as a child of immigrants. I think the experience is very unique, and the author did a great job of showing how one can be both colonized & colonizer at the same time. It’s a nuance that’s often lost in conversation; so I was pleasantly surprised to see it come up in this book. There’s a lot of good things in these 200 pages.
Content Warnings
Minor: Abortion