rickjones's Reviews (1.66k)

Going to Meet the Man

James Baldwin

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This short story collection presents moments of revelation for a variety of characters caught up in complex relationships and questioning their identity within them. I appreciated the diversity of people, places and times Baldwin wrote from the perspective of to make up the collection. He was adept at finding resounding voices for each of these characters, from playful young Black boys to a violently racist white sheriff. I felt like I understood the meaning and themes of some of these stories more than others, but it was easy to feel drawn into them all. The final and title story of Going to Meet the Man was one of the most disturbing works of literature I've ever encountered, and the most difficult to keep reading. Racism was described throughout many of these works, but Going to Meet the Man details how it has been passed on through generations of white families through violence to sedate depraved insecurity. I would be wary of reading this particular story if descriptions of violent racism and lynchings are triggering to you. My primary issue reading this collection was the length of the paragraphs. Often times I got lost in a passage and had to re-read it repeatedly to make sense of it, thought I doubt this is a problem for everyone. Overall, I enjoyed being introduced to Baldwin's style and skill through these stories, and look forward to reading his longer novels.

Content Warnings

The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison

4.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

An arresting, gut-wrenching story of the pervasive power of internalizing hatred. Morrison's skill for writing fleshed-out characters whose experiences reflect and denounce racism, classism and misogyny is awe-inspiring throughout her first novel. Her prose was lyrical, observant and stinging with relevance, which kept me glued to the pages. However, the detail used to describe sexual violence against preteen girls was so disturbing it felt unnecessary. Her inclusion of these segments started to disillusion me as they went on and worsened, but Claudia's voice in the last chapter was reinvigorating if not tragic. Claudia and Frieda are the most endearing characters throughout this story, and I doubt I will ever forget them. Their allied but secret rebellions against racism and misogyny are bathed in childlike innocence but still powerful, as we never see them internalize the hatred of their aggressors the way most of the book's other characters do. Ultimately, this is a disturbing but meaningful story, though the subject matter will make it a rough read for many.

Content Warnings

How Beautiful We Were

Imbolo Mbue

4.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

How Beautiful We Were is a tragedy, but one that demands the reader not to feel sympathy, but to reflect on our role in the poisoning and exploitation of villages like Kosawa. Mbue pits hope and reality against each other repeatedly throughout the novel, gifting Kosawa with tiny victories the characters and reader both must learn are more akin to sedatives and insults than progress. I felt the writing throughout most of the book was illustrative and sharply observant, though there were times where it lacked detail and lagged as the novel progressed. Mbue defied my expectations with the book's ending, initially making me feel disappointed and almost angry. Yet after reflecting further, her unflinching depiction of the humanity, homelands and culture that colonialism and capitalism has stripped from our world of is more striking through use of an unsettling finale in the modern day. I would recommend this story to others, but please be warned that it pulls no punches with its descriptions of environmental degradation and the horrors that unfold in its wake.

Content Warnings

Real Life

Brandon Taylor

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Real Life is a heavy, honest coming of age story that focuses on graduate student Wallace, as he realizes the depths of his discontent over the course of a weekend. Wallace is the only Black graduate student in his program, an alienating experience which is made worse by acts of sabotage, statements of thinly veiled racism, and silence from his white peers. Taylor pulls no punches while describing how Wallace feels, and unravels why he is compelled to either placate or push away those he calls his friends as the story goes on. This book contains effective but visceral descriptions of trauma and how it pecks its way into people and slumbers within them, poisoning them quietly for a spell before squawking loudly for attention. If you are triggered by descriptions of sexual assault, especially against minors, this is not a book I would ever recommend to you. Yet I never felt like Taylor exploited Wallace's history of surviving assault to elicit shock or pity from the reader. Instead we are led to understand, similarly to Wallace, that his history cannot be escaped, and that his flee to academia has piled on new violations hidden under politeness and guilty apologies while exacerbating his poor self-esteem. Taylor makes it impossible not to empathize with Wallace, and I desperately wished for him to find safety and happiness somewhere in his world. The ending of the book was disappointing to me because Wallace's life did not improve, but I don't regret having read it. Taylor's prose is striking and glittering with insight, so I would still highly recommend this book to those who can stomach the subject matter.

Content Warnings

Everything Inside

Edwidge Danticat

4.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This collection of short stories holds a diverse range of narratives where the characters are united in their origination from Haiti, but not much else. Their stories are moving, terrifying, heart-wrenching and continuously honest and thoughtful. Within the book, Danticat explored the innermost feelings and most significant experiences of people from all ages and walks of life. I was never sure what to expect when a new story began, but upon its conclusion I felt one world after another had been pried open for me to glance inside and reflect upon without judgement. I appreciated that most of these characters were flawed but written realistically as people trying to survive a world that presents us with infinite imperfect options. I look forward to reading more from Danticat, and would encourage others to explore her storytelling too.

Content Warnings

A Deadly Inside Scoop

Abby Collette

3.0

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

While A Deadly Inside Scoop is a sweet book, the high expectations I had for its story and characters sadly weren't met. Win was a likable protagonist, but also strangely naive and frustratingly slow to put clues together. I'm no expert at solving mysteries so I tend to feel disappointed when I realize hints quicker than the characters do, which happened repeatedly throughout this book. Its supporting characters were quirky as promised, but their personalities weren't developed enough to make me feel invested in their lives. Most characters felt like stand-ins for popular tropes and did not extend beyond their use as plot devices. Lastly, the book's flow was often interrupted by repetitive and unnecessary word use. I did not highlight any particular sentence where this occurred to quote, but I remember pausing multiple times to make sure I read something right because its phrasing was so odd.

As for the positives, I felt the story's main strengths were its environment and tone. Chagrin Falls sounded like a wonderful place to live so I enjoyed imagining the locations Win described, especially her ice cream shop. Overall, I felt this was an imperfect but entertaining novel. I'm not sure if I want to read the remaining books in the series, but I would encourage you to try this one if you like lighthearted mysteries and ice cream recipes.

Content Warnings

Silver Sparrow

Tayari Jones

5.0

emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

In many ways, Silver Sparrow is a very unsettling novel. Yet it is also a fierce, heart-wrenching love story of a family told from the perspective of their youngest generation. Jones made me fall in love with the Yarboro and Witherspoon families, despite their many flaws and the knowledge that the existence of one of James' families would always threaten the other. Jones' prose was wise and biting, and her characterization was inspiringly precise. Every page in this book holds profound meaning for the people involved, and each scene that moved along the timeline of Dana and Chaurisse's lives was never without the higher purpose of showing us who these young women were growing into. The decision to switch between the girls' perspectives midway through the book was jarring at first, but eventually made the story even more poignant, as it was impossible for me to dislike Dana, Chaurisse, or their mothers. It was even difficult to not empathize with James or Raleigh. By the end of the book I felt devastated that these shared families could not forgive each other and find unity, but as Dana says, "some things were inevitable. You’d have to be a fool to think otherwise".

Content Warnings

How to Be an Antiracist

Ibram X. Kendi

4.0

hopeful informative reflective tense

Content Warnings

The Son of the House

Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia

4.0

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Son of the House is a story of the survival and lasting hope of two Nigerian women with vastly different upbringings. The novel begins and ends with their kidnapping in 2011, encircling the stories they relate to each other about their younger years throughout the majority of the book. Nwabulu and Julie encountered differing forms of misogyny from their family and community living through late 1900's Nigeria, but they both know the price of prioritizing "the son of the house" and how the devaluation of women can easily upend one's life. However, their similar experiences go deeper than they know, and both women eventually realize that the defining event of their life has tragically and miraculously been shared.

Onyemelukwe-Onuobia's straightforward writing style led the book along at an engaging pace, and allowed me to feel engrossed enough in the story that I often forgot it was fiction and started to genuinely worry about the characters. Though many periods of the book were tragic and unflinchingly depicted misogynistic expectations and abuse, Nwabulu and Julie's stories are not devoid of hope. Ultimately I felt this novel was a rewarding read that urges us to remember that even in dire circumstances, people are never truly lost when they are courageous enough to seek out and accept love.

Content Warnings

The Kindest Lie

Nancy Johnson

4.0

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Kindest Lie skillfully weaves together the experiences and perspectives of multiple characters in a floundering small town to present a novel where there are no easy answers. Johnson excels at giving her characters unique voices and slowly unraveling their life story to explain who they've become and why. Ironically, the character I felt least compelled by was Ruth. Her naivety and lack of planning frustrated me at times, while in other scenarios her dialogue read too perfect to believe a real person would react how she was. Luckily by the end of the book I felt like Ruth had matured into accepting more responsibility for herself while still speaking her truth. Otherwise, I thought each of the characters were written very authentically, and that Johnson obviously did the research to ensure they would be. The book was much less dramatic than I had expected it to be, which isn't a negative feature. Instead of using flashy, scandalous tropes, Johnson grabs the reader's attention by pitting Ruth's differing responsibilities against each other to a devastating effect. Ultimately, this is a story about the weight of the sacrifices families must make to protect their youngest members, and how Black families are always expected to sacrifice more. I would recommend this book to other readers, especially those looking for stories with multifaceted narratives about race and class in the United States.

Content Warnings

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