These Ghosts Are Family

I'll start by saying this was a well written book however it was all over the place. I felt like I didn't know what was going on or the significance of the chapters until midway through them. It almost seemed like each chapter could stand alone as a collection of short stories more than one interconnected book. I'm still trying to figure the last chapter out. Maybe I'm missing something.

Strong characters. Strong dialogue. Interesting Jamaican historical references. I felt lost at times and sometimes confused but wasn't upset these instances. I enjoyed the sweeping narrative, the jumps through centuries and the first, second and third person voices all used with aplomb. Great debut for Maisy Card. Oh, and did I mention that fantastic dust jacket?

This is a sweeping family story that reminded me of Yaa Gyasi without a straight timeline. I liked that the many characters there were all unique and easy to remember. I liked how we jumped around in time, but yet everything felt connected. The dialogue did a great job settling us in the location and time in history. I was not expecting the ending, but it seemed appropriate. These characters will stick with me.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a great job to use different voices.

I received a copy of this book free through Goodreads Giveaways.

I didn't really care for this book as much as the premise and summary appealed to me. The format of the book changed up nearly every chapter, and it ended up reading more like a collection of short stories involving a (very) loosely connected family than a cohesive whole. The point of view changed every chapter to feature another member of the family, so I never really felt connected with any of them to the point where I cared how everything fit together. The ending was also a bit of a letdown considering the buildup that was the first few chapters.

All that said, the prose was very well written, and I really felt drawn into some of the scenes the author wrote, despite the fact that I didn't really care about the people in them. There were some unexpected turns that were interesting in the chapter, but mattered very little once you moved onto the next. I'd be interested to see another book by this author with a more cohesive plot thread throughout.