Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Bolo Negro by Charmaine Wilkerson

9 reviews

melba1975's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative sad tense 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

4.5

Black Cake is a fantastic book. The complex and interconnected lives of the MCs give the book depth and interest that I found quite engaging. The bits of historical and/or scientific information sprinkled throughout this intriguing story made the read that much more enjoyable. By the end of the book, I felt close to all of the MCs. I rejoiced at their triumphs and lamented at their sorrows. Overall this was a book I am happy to have read and will gladly recommend to others. 

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katy_heath's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This story is beautifully told across three generations.

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zara89's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad 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

2.5


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tinyjude's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

When I found out at the end that this was the first author's novel I was left speechless. What a delight! Every character's voice is distinctive and unique, they are complex and flawed, but over all of them, Covey's voice whenever she just took over in those letters,  completely destroyed me and stood out the most. I could feel without fail all her love, pain and regrets and those were the paragraphs that broke me the most.

The story deals with topics such as immigration, racism, colourism, gambling issues, biphobia, sexual assault, domestic abuse, colonialism (specifically the West Indies-The UK, America and Spain) and its consequences even in the way the characters viewed their oppressors' land as full of opportunities and then became disillusioned and appalled by the bigotry and lies. It also deals with conflicts such as police brutality and abuse, the difficulties both women (just for being women sometimes) and men of colour face in the workfield; as well as how colourism and gender plays a big role in it.

But most of all it's a book about family history, heritage, feeling torn and at a crossroad with your identity (multiculturalism, hybridity, cultural assimilation, etc.), feeling lonely and ashamed by unfair things that happened to you (mostly women), white lies, safety and love. Above all. It's a book about love. A mother's love for her children. Family's love, friends' love, sibling's conflicts and love and romantic affection. Love for yourself, your safety and your life. 

And: What are you willing to sacrifice for x?

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himpersonal's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

So much goodness in here. Lots of strands of stories odien disjointed but ultimately all woven back together. Could’ve used a better editor, but overall, an important story to tell.

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jasminechocklettslee's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0


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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-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

5.0


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kdenten's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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davidrb's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was the first book I was able to finish this year, and it was devastating. It's just as much a mystery as a family drama, and engaged me like nothing else. It got to the point where just the title of a chapter/the return of a character's POV made me gasp. Highly, highly, highly recommend. Don't be daunted by the length: it flies by. (That said, it's extremely heavy!)

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