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destdest 's review for:

Island Queen by Vanessa Riley
3.0
emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Fine. Dolly is resourceful and smart as a whip. The majority of this is her being a businesswoman and the various white mens infatuated with her (varying in power imbalances from much to little to none). Wealth becomes a security blanket for Dolly, helping keep the nightmares, the past, the racism, and the feelings of inadequacy at bay.

Don’t be put off by the length. Each chapter is bite-sized.

I was very impressed by what the author was able to infer from historical documents. But I wanted more about how Dolly started training her workers than all the mens.