Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Bolo Negro by Charmaine Wilkerson

142 reviews

heyitsroozu's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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blackcake's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

I must say, Charmaine wrote a lovely story about breaking generational curses, the beauty and history within cooking, racism, and self life reflection. Even though the pace of this book is arguably slow, I rather enjoyed it as it took it's time to build many loveable characters and empathy for their journeys. The twists even landed harder for me because the author choose to take a slower route to build up the tension. 

This book will you inspire you to seek out knowledge about your family. It showed, in a plethora of examples through the generations, how history repeats itself when you're unaware of it or haven't learned from it. 

The hard hitting issues, as far as racism, colorism, featurism, and xenophobia was painted and explained brilliantly. Charmaine did a phenomenal job educating the reader on these topics, specially in the loosely based Jamaican culture. She walked us into the world of the toxic thinking and beliefs some people, mainly of the older generation, possessed.
Even the sexual assault was handled with care as the author didn't go into detail and refrained from giving the abuser too much acknowledgement. 
 

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in food culture, Jamaican/Island culture and lifestyle, family secrets, and/or civil rights. You will not be disappointed. 
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marianaatd's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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greenpearls's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

ask your mothers about their lives!!
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susanmshay'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? It's complicated

5.0

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thee_book_connoisseur_'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

We can't choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?" This central question echoes through Charmaine Wilkerson’s stunning debut novel, Black Cake, a deeply layered story of family, identity, and the weight of secrets.
Eleanor Bennett’s passing leaves her children, Byron and Benny, with more than just grief—she leaves them a black cake and a voice recording that unravels their family's hidden past. As they listen, they learn of a young swimmer who fled her Caribbean home under the shadow of murder, a revelation that fractures their understanding of their lineage and forces them to reconsider everything they thought they knew. As Eleanor’s secrets come to light, Byron and Benny must navigate their own strained relationship and decide whether their mother’s final request will reunite or divide them.
Wilkerson’s prose is both lyrical and immersive, pulling readers into a multigenerational narrative that weaves together themes of migration, race, love, and resilience. Black Cake is more than just a story about family—it is a powerful exploration of how history, culture, and hidden truths shape who we become. Richly evocative and emotionally resonant, this novel is a must-read for anyone who appreciates stories that linger long after the last page is turned.
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ar_reader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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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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oceanelle's review against another edition

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

3.75

Beautifully written and compulsively readable, but at the same time I don’t feel like I fell in love with either the story or the characters? To me it felt structurally magnificent but lacking in depth and texture when it came to the siblings. 
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lmm0's review against another edition

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

3.0

If you're interested in reading this book, I suggest not reading the synopsis, as I think it gives away some major plot points - I've provided a more vague summary below...
This novel follows siblings Byron and Benny, who, after their mother Eleanor’s death, are left with a black cake and a voice recording that unravels a dark family secret. The recording reveals Eleanor’s past as a young swimmer who fled her island home - as the siblings uncover their mother’s hidden history, they must confront painful truths, heal their fractured relationship, and decide if they can fulfill Eleanor’s final request to "share the black cake when the time is right." The story explores themes of family, identity, and the power of secrets.
For being a debut, this is a pretty good read, I just think it went on longer than it needed to. Also, not sure if we needed as many characters as those that were included. If you don't like shifting perspectives & time jumps, this is not the book for you. A particular brownie point this novel earned were the short chapters.
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