The Almost Sisters

I just don't know. There were aspects to this that I really liked, and aspects that made flames appear on the side of my face.

I liked that the narrator, Leia, was a comic book artist, and included aspects of fandom throughout the book, including in the way she imagined raising her child.

I loved Birchie and Wattie, and the way they took care of each other and were awesome, smart and contrary matriarchs that protected each other, and ultimately did whatever they wanted.

The first time the face-flames appeared, it was because Leia had never once considered the feelings of Wattie, a black woman who is Leia's grandmother's best friend and roommate and the two are never without each other. It's like Leia was shocked into realizing that racism exists in Alabama, to which I loll my head to the side and go duhhhhhhh.

Which led to all this bullshit in Leia's inner monologue about there being two Souths, the one she lives in and the one that exists for Wattie and the other black families in town, except they're both the same South, sweet tea and manners exist in both of them, heavens to Betsy!, and you just have the privilege of not having to notice problems like black women not being welcome in the Baptist church that only white people attend until it's uncomfortable for you. And I guess I'm just really mad that Leia, who has known Wattie for all of her 38 years, had never considered how she feels in this small southern town, but gets to feel so superior for being the person who is going to “unite this town!” with her biracial baby. (At which point I was like heart-pounding outraged about this baby being used as, I perceived, a device to Fix Racism.)

Also, I didn't realize how much I hated the title of this book until the very end, but I'm having a hard time articulating why. You think for like 95% of the book that this is about Leia and her step-sister Rachel, who's kind of a busybody bitch for most of the book, but the title doesn't totally fit their relationship. But at the very end it's revealed that Birchie's father raped Wattie's mother for years, and that the two old ladies are half-sisters. Why would they be "almost sisters" when they are literally blood related?

I think I just talked myself into 1-starring this. Maybe 1.5 if I'm generous.

The audiobook was narrated by the author, and Jackson has a high-pitched voice with a southern cadence/accent. I never got the speed up higher than 1.25x because of the pitch.

TW: racism, rape