For the first half or so of THE LEFTOVER WOMAN, I was struggling. My attention kept wandering. I didn't like any of the characters. Everything felt liFor the first half or so of THE LEFTOVER WOMAN, I was struggling. My attention kept wandering. I didn't like any of the characters. Everything felt like it was stretched out far too long, despite it being a relatively short (sub-300 page) book. The supposed "mystery" at its centre was something I could see right through just from the back matter. I flirted with the idea of DNFing it.
And then, somewhere, somehow, I perked up. Pieces started to come together a bit. I started to see likable things in the two main characters. I got suddenly interested in how this was all going to turn out for them.
I'm glad I ultimately stuck with it, because I ended up liking it more than I'd begun to expect I would. It's a story of two very different women's very different lives, told in alternating chapters. Jasmine is a young woman who has made her way from China to the U.S. by less than legal means, trying desperately to locate the daughter who was taken from her at birth, even if finding her means doing things she never thought herself capable of doing. Rebecca, on the other hand, is a rich woman who seems to have it all: a beautiful family, a high powered job, the full picket fence experience...including a Chinese nanny hired to teach her adopted daughter the language of her homeland. You can probably see where these characters' lives will intersect.
[image]
Fortunately, even if you saw it, there is eventually more to these characters' stories than just that. It took a couple of unexpected turns for me, and I was much more engaged in the second half. I was reminded a couple of times of Susie Yang's WHITE IVY, at least in the echoes of the struggles inherent in assimilation and the split desire to fit in and still hold on to one's precious culture.
Go into this one expecting more of a family drama than a mystery, and I think you'll end up enjoying it. (Props to the two narrators who gave the audiobook their distinct voices for each of the two women, too.)...more
Whew! I'm not normally a big fan of procedurals (well, not in books, anyway; I'm guilty of watching Law & Order from time to time), and I didn't know Whew! I'm not normally a big fan of procedurals (well, not in books, anyway; I'm guilty of watching Law & Order from time to time), and I didn't know that's what this book was going in. I'm kind of glad, because I didn't pre-judge at all, and I let myself get totally swept along with the harrowing current. I think this probably made S.A. Cosby into a future auto-read for me.
The gist: a Black sheriff in a very racist southern town finds himself thrust into a situation that looks like a (sadly) stereotypical school shooting, but turns into much, much worse once the details about the chosen victims start trickling out.
Cosby's story plunges the reader into the action right away, and rarely lets up on the gas. For whatever it's worth, I listened to the audiobook (very well narrated, by the way), and because I was nursing a sore back the day I started it...I actually listened to 6+ hours in one sitting. I mean, that's a testimony to its "do I have your attention?" qualities right there.
What cost a star, for me, was twofold: there are a couple of seemingly unnecessary subplots that take up a bit too much time (maybe I was just hoping for an especially nasty twist involving them), and the grand finale felt slightly rushed and chaotic. But that wasn't enough to make me not enjoy it. I've read some reviews from Goodreads friends who have enjoyed a couple of his other books more than this one, which makes me look forward to picking them up, because this one was pretty damn good.
A word of warning: If you're sensitive to issues surrounding child abuse, particularly CSA and CSM, this might not be the book for you. While not graphic, there are some scenes that are difficult to take....more
I'll ned to come back to this and give a proper review breakdown of each of the short stories -- I did take notes while reading, though they're not asI'll ned to come back to this and give a proper review breakdown of each of the short stories -- I did take notes while reading, though they're not as complete as I'd have liked, so I'll get on that. In the meantime, though, I'd say it was largely much more successful than not, with more stories getting 4 or 5 stars from me than anything lower. Big highlights? The opening story by N.K. Jemisin, and of course the contribution from my ultimate writer-crush, Tananarive Due. Very glad I bought this beauty in hardcover!
There’s not much I’m going to be able to say about this book that hasn’t already been said better by countless other reviews here. I do have to add myThere’s not much I’m going to be able to say about this book that hasn’t already been said better by countless other reviews here. I do have to add my voice to the chorus of “holy shit that was messed UP,” though, so here I am, doing just that. The whole book is disturbing and weird, but the ending… That ending. I feel like I have about 10 hours of deep dives, rabbit holes and YouTube “ending explained” videos to visit before I can even process whatever the hell that was.
[image] Hendrix was not into this one at ALL.
In terms of rating it, I had to go middle of the road. It grabbed me at the outset, and I stayed intrigued (if horrified) throughout, but there were parts where it got so hard to relate to – like, on a basic human level – that I started to feel disconnected. Which is probably a good thing, really, and a positive sign for my own sanity. If there are people in my life who can relate to literally any character in EARTHLINGS, I’m going to need to know that upfront so I can decide how to deal with them going forward, mmkay?
Important: Read all of the content warnings that are plastered everywhere. See them, commit them to memory, ask yourself if this is truly a reading journey you want to undertake. EARTHLINGS is a fairly short book (thank goodness), but in its length it manages to jam in some of the most repulsive stuff you can imagine, the worst of which is (in my opinion) the every-imaginable-kind-of-abuse against a child. It’s graphic and unflinching and terrible. And things don’t get any more pleasant from that point on.
Overall, this was one of the more bizarre books I’ve ever read, and that’s saying something. The imagery was distressingly vivid, and I don’t think I’ll be able to shake some of those mental pictures for a very long time....more
What a talent it is to write a book containing so many unlikable (or, at minimum, difficult to relate to) characters and still make the reader care soWhat a talent it is to write a book containing so many unlikable (or, at minimum, difficult to relate to) characters and still make the reader care so much about how it all turns out.
This book had been on my must-read list for years, and I just received it as a birthday gift, so I knew the time was now. There's nothing I can say about it that decades of literary scholars haven't done already, so I'll just say it was achingly beautiful, complicated, dramatic, and human. James Baldwin wrote as he spoke, and if you've ever watched the man speak you'll know why that's so remarkable. If you haven't...why haven't you??
[image] (Watch the trailer for Baldwin's I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO here. Then find a way to watch the whole thing.)...more
4.5 stars rounded up. This collection of essays by Michelle Good is an incredibly important read, whether you're a newcomer to the subject of Indigeno4.5 stars rounded up. This collection of essays by Michelle Good is an incredibly important read, whether you're a newcomer to the subject of Indigenous life in this country or someone more intermediate, like me. There were so many things that still managed to shock and horrify me in these pages. I deeply appreciated that Good calls out individual prime minsters, among others, in her quest to make readers understand just how much further there is to go before anything resembling equity (and, hell, humane treatment) is achieved.
My only (very minor) gripe that held me back from a full 5 stars was that there is some repetition when reading one essay after another, and it felt like a couple of points were revisited a bit more often than necessary. But beyond that, it's a book I think should be assigned in schools.
[image]
I simultaneously read the Kindle version and listened to the audiobook, which was well narrated, and I can recommend both. Good has more than proven herself as an evocative writer in the past (if you haven't read FIVE LITTLE INDIANS, do it), and now she's just added to her impressive catalogue. Everyone with an interest in human rights and Canadian history should pick this up....more
Wildest ride of a story, man. SGJ knows how to get weird and graphic and just flat out disturbing. I usually hate anything that What... what the hell.
Wildest ride of a story, man. SGJ knows how to get weird and graphic and just flat out disturbing. I usually hate anything that even breathes the same air as Lovecraft, but this had me riveted.
If you don't like reading about animal suffering/death, avoid this like the plague. I fear that may be true of the other TRESPASS books, too, but I'll keep y'all posted....more
Is it too early to say that Tananarive Due has written her masterpiece? If anything could count as her magnum opus, TFINALLY RELEASED! [October 31/23]
Is it too early to say that Tananarive Due has written her masterpiece? If anything could count as her magnum opus, THE REFORMATORY should be it. If she can outdo this…I don’t think my heart could handle it.
Giving this 5 stars makes me doubt every other 5-star review I've ever given. I don't know anymore if anything else has earned this.
Let me start by saying I’ve done the best I could with the DoesTheDogDie entry without breaking the embargo and spoiling anything. If you do go there, be warned that a lot of it is red, red, red. There is so much in this book that will destroy you. Animals, kids, loved ones, just…so much.
With that out of the way: this book was incredible. I don’t remember the last time I read anything that made me feel like THE REFORMATORY has. And I say that in the present tense, because even though I finished reading it yesterday, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I think it was at about the ¾ point where I finally lost it and cried for a solid half hour. My poor dog thought I’d lost my mind. I didn’t expect to be so blindsided with emotion, but I was.
[image]
The very, very basic gist: 12-year-old Robert, a Black boy in 1950s Florida and the heart of the Jim Crow south, defends his big sister Gloria from a local white boy, and as a result he’s sent to the titular Reformatory as punishment. The odds of him surviving his sentence aren’t good, because the way this place is run is one step beyond hell on earth. When the head of the “school” finds out Robert can see ghosts, or “haints,” the boy is put to work as a kind of exterminator…but while he’s promised to have time taken off his six months of incarceration, things get much, much worse as soon as he starts putting his ghost hunting abilities to work.
I was staggered several times by the level of detail that went into a few characters, so much so that I actually looked them up to see if Due had put real people into these pages. And what do you know? She did. There are some startling appearances of historical figures in THE REFORMATORY, some of whom you might not immediately recognize by name (some you will, I promise) but whom you’ll know by their place in Black American history. An attorney who works for the NAACP and gets involved in Robert’s case was probably my biggest surprise in that respect, because Due has done something so lovely here that it made my heart ache as I read it.
I’m getting choked up just writing this damn review. Man, this book.
Yes, it’s a ghost story, and yes, there are legitimately scary things that Robert sees late at night in his overcrowded, sweltering dorm room. My breath caught in my throat more than once. But of course the true horrors are the things that happen – that really happened – to these boys at the hands of living humans. Every single punishment, every cruelly spoken word, it’s all reality, and it is utterly devastating to read. I felt so hopeless for a lot of the time I spent reading, truly unsure how or if Robert would ever stop suffering. Again, though, Due does more than just using these things to emotionally manipulate her readers, and the pathway to the ending is rich and rewarding, no matter how much your heart has broken along the road.
As a piece of historical fiction, I don’t see how this could be topped. As I mentioned, the little details are extraordinary, and even things like the smells of a kitchen or the feeling of a particular fabric practically jump off the page. I felt like I was watching a movie playing inside my head all the way through, even when I desperately wished I couldn’t picture some of the more terrifying or brutal moments. I saw it all.
It’s nearly 600 pages long, but those pages are all necessary. I don’t envy Due’s editor, because I don’t know what I’d cut if I were trying to trim it back at all.
THE REFORMATORY is scheduled to drop on Hallowe’en. If anything I’ve said here sounds intriguing, please, please pick it up as soon as you can. My review may sound hyperbolic, but I would die on this hill: it’s one of the best books – if not outright the best book – that will come out this year. I feel honoured to have been given the chance to read it early.
Many thanks to Tananarive Due, Simon & Schuster, Saga Press, and Edelweiss for allowing me to read this book. My thoughts are unbiased and my own.
____ Original: July 18/23 - ARC received! I'm SO EXCITED. Thanks to the publishers and Edelweiss! (Expected publication date: October 31/23)...more
A book full of pain, but beautifully illustrated in a way that teaches someone who shares none of the same background (me) what such intergenerationalA book full of pain, but beautifully illustrated in a way that teaches someone who shares none of the same background (me) what such intergenerational trauma and systemic oppression must be like to live with. I loved how the artwork is used to put a picture to the Indigenous experience, a true "show, don't tell" way of getting it across.
I'm glad we chose this for our July read with LCBN. It wasn't an easy read, but it'll make for great discussion. This is the sort of book I'd love to see taught in schools....more
This has to be one of the best audiobooks I've ever heard. I sat staring at my speaker, mouth occasionally hanging open, for pretty much the entire ruThis has to be one of the best audiobooks I've ever heard. I sat staring at my speaker, mouth occasionally hanging open, for pretty much the entire runtime. There's no bad way to read this book (or the original, pre-remixed book by Ibram X. Kendi), but if you want the best possible experience, get yourself the audiobook alongside a print or digital copy that will let you highlight things you want to look up later. There will be a fair few of those. I regret not listening to my own advice, but I bought the Kindle version right after hitting the end of the audiobook, so I'm going to re-read. The hard part will be not highlighting everything.
Both the segregationists and the assimilationists think there is something wrong with Black people and that’s why Black people are on the lower and dying end of racial inequity. The assimilationists believe Black people as a group can be changed for the better, and the segregationists do not. The segregationists and the assimilationists are challenged by antiracists. The antiracists say there is nothing wrong or right about Black people and everything wrong with racism. The antiracists say racism is the problem in need of changing, not Black people. The antiracists try to transform racism. The assimilationists try to transform Black people. The segregationists try to get away from Black people.
I've read Jason Reynolds's books before (he is also a poet, if you couldn't tell from the quotes here), but I don't think I'd ever had the pleasure of hearing him speak. In this case he narrates the "remix" of Kendi's book (Kendi gives the foreword himself) and does so brilliantly, making it feel more like you're on the other end of a phone conversation with him than listening to a lecture. I felt similarly listening to this as I did when I first watched Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th -- some I knew, but a lot of it...even if I technically knew about it, I was forced to think about it in a new way, which made me feel like I was having my eyes (or ears) opened to something heretofore completely undiscovered. The ways my white brain thought of seemingly straightforward things like Obama being elected or the rise of The Cosby Show as being unilaterally good things for the Black community at the time, only to have it reframed for me...I was genuinely fascinated from the first to the last chapter.
If we understand how the tree works, how the trunk and roots are where the power lies, and how gravity is on our side, we can attack it, each of us with small axes, and change the face of the forest. So let’s learn all there is to know about the tree of racism. The root. The fruit. The sap and trunk. The nests built over time, the changing leaves. That way, your generation can finally, actively chop it down.
I really can't recommend this enough. It's quite short, but as I said, it'll inspire you to look more into the parts that really catch you unawares, so it's its own project in that way. I confess I'd never finished the original STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING, but having read HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST a few years ago I feel safe in recommending Kendi's works alongside this one, especially to see how Reynolds and Kendi treat the same subject matter – it’s similar but different, which is genius. And it’s vital stuff to know, especially for those of us who grew up not needing to examine these things so closely. Whether you’re a beginner to the topic of social justice for Black communities or you’re well on your way to enlightenment, this version of STAMPED will add something to your knowledge, and it’ll do so in such a way that you won’t even realize how much you’ve learned.
Fooled by racist ideas, I did not fully realize that the only thing wrong with Black people is that we think something is wrong with Black people. I did not fully realize that the only thing extraordinary about White people is that they think something is extraordinary about White people.
I don't know what took me so long to read this, but I'm really glad I did. It's a story you might think is unnecessary to read, either because you've I don't know what took me so long to read this, but I'm really glad I did. It's a story you might think is unnecessary to read, either because you've heard it all before (tragic in itself though that may be) or because it's marketed as YA. All I can say is that Angie Thomas has imbued it with enough power to override those possible hurdles.
[image]
I ended up watching the movie version a day after finishing the book, which was interesting, because it's mostly faithful but features a couple of jarring and, in my opinion, unnecessary if not outright egregious changes to the source material. I'd have loved the movie had I not read the book; as it stands I have to say the book did some things better.
My only criticism is, as always, pacing. The story kicks into high gear pretty quickly, then seems to stretch out too long through the middle third before barreling ahead in the final act. Maybe that was by design, but I'd have felt more immersed in the middle section had a few things been tightened up a bit. Other than that, though? This is a book I'd like to see getting assigned in school. There's a lot to talk about.
(Bahni Turpin narrates the audiobook brilliantly, by the way.)...more
When I say this felt like a collision between Jason Lewis, Karen McManus and Tiffany D. Jackson, you need to know how much I've loved what those writeWhen I say this felt like a collision between Jason Lewis, Karen McManus and Tiffany D. Jackson, you need to know how much I've loved what those writers have created to appreciate that it's a huge compliment to Nick Brooks. If you've enjoyed any of the books they've written, you'll really like PROMISE BOYS. Brooks is great at giving his multiple POV chapters different enough voices that you aren't flipping back to see who's doing what, and he's built characters who are easy to root for without being treacly-sweet.
[image]
I'd have gone even higher in the star rating had I not mostly solved the mystery fairly early on, but the execution of how the answers come out is still satisfying. Wholeheartedly recommending this one....more
Loading...
