A review by serendipitysbooks
The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 The Unsettled is the story of Ava, her son Touissant, and her mother Dutchess. It’s set during the 1980s in Philadelphia and Alabama. Ava and Touissant end up in a homeless shelter after her abusive husband kicks her out. Ava reconnects with Cass, Touissant’s father, and they move to a community he leads focussed on Black liberation. It’s safe to say this is not the utopia they might wish it to be. Meanwhile Dutchess is struggling since Bonaparte, the Black owned town where she lives, is on the verge of extinction. The first section of the book set in the family shelter was probably my favourite. I found the conditions in the shelter, the attitudes of the staff and the bureaucracy surrounding it to be both infuriating and eye-opening. This book had a lot to say about race and the many ways it affects the lives of Black Americans, and about intergenerational trauma, how one event can affect those not even born when it occurred. By and large it is a depressing read, although there is a glimmer of hope for the future. 
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