This book was excellent in weaving so many character's lives together seamlessly, and I truly was caught off guard by the twists. This made me stay up late so I could find out what happened- and I finished it in one day. Quick, suspenseful read that's worth it for the character building and the suspense.
I didn't connect with this book in the way I anticipated, partially because I read this book in the year that is 2020 (global pandemic, catastrophic climate events, civil unrest, general uncertainty about everything). If I could read this again when I could escape into Julia's world without feeling like it parallels life so much, I might connect with the story better and truly appreciate the writing. Karen has an excellent writing style, and I'd like to try reading some of her other books.
I like Jane Austen, and she's up to her usual tricks of wit and societal drama in this story. BUT I felt this pacing was much too slow; at times I was reluctant to finish it. I will say, the story is a good one, once the plot picks up, and I felt a rollercoaster of emotions for Fanny Price and the gang. I'm glad I read it as part of Jane Austen's collection of works, but will be reticent to pick it up again.
Stories like this are the reason I love to read.
I feel as though I've felt a lifetime of emotions taking this journey with these characters. It's a journey I would gladly rejoin, full of love, fear, hope, guilt, anguish, and humor—-reality of humanity at its core.
Tomi is simply a brilliant writer. The multiple perspectives she writes from weaves an intricate and intimate picture of each character, which makes this story much deeper and heartfelt, and real. She tackles an extremely important theme I found throughout the story with such honesty and clarity—perspective, empathy, and understanding. From Inan's “curse” and his true inner feelings, to Amari's experiences shaping who she is and not her birthright, it encapsulates one big message: No matter who we are or where we come from, We Are All Children Of Blood and Bone.
I'll be a loyal reader of this series, and can't wait to see what Tomi Adeyemi writes in the future.
I tried to love this book. It's beautifully written and well-balanced between McNamara's world and EAR-ONS's world in terms of storytelling, but I'm just not sure True Crime is a genre I'm excited to read. This is my first encounter with True Crime. Maybe I'll revisit this at a different point in time, but when the bookmark fell out for the fourth time, I decided to not find the page.
For those of you that like True Crime, I think you will thoroughly enjoy this book.
I loved this story, especially being told in the format of poetry- seems the only appropriate way to tell the story of a blossoming poet! I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version, as the author reads it herself with the raw emotion and energy of the words cutting through and piercing your heart. I'd love to listen again and have a hard copy to follow along to visualize the poetic structures, but for now I'll be thinking about X and this poetry for a while. I highly recommend it!