Genevieve
3.75⭐️ This book opens with one of the most powerful first lines I’ve ever read: “The first weapon I ever held was my mother’s hands.” That line had my full attention and I was instantly all in. Jesmyn Ward’s writing is beautiful and so poetic. But the story itself was slow paced and sometimes hard to follow. I’d be into one chapter, then distracted in the next. I listened to the audiobook (narrated by Jesmyn Ward herself) while reading along with the physical copy, and that definitely helped. Still, I didn’t fully connect the way I wanted to. There are some passages I’ll be thinking about for a long time. Beautiful writing, just not an easy read for me.
3.75⭐️ This book opens with one of the most powerful first lines I’ve ever read: “The first weapon I ever held was my mother’s hands.” That line had my full attention and I was instantly all in. Jesmyn Ward’s writing is beautiful and so poetic. But the story itself was slow paced and sometimes hard to follow. I’d be into one chapter, then distracted in the next. I listened to the audiobook (narrated by Jesmyn Ward herself) while reading along with the physical copy, and that definitely helped. Still, I didn’t fully connect the way I wanted to. There are some passages I’ll be thinking about for a long time. Beautiful writing, just not an easy read for me.