Genevieve
Since it’s Haitian Heritage Month, I wanted to pick up more books by Haitian authors and An Untamed State came highly recommended by someone in my book club. And wow, this book had me from the very first line: “Once upon a time in a far off land, I was kidnapped.” After that, I could not put this book down.
The story is set in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which is my family’s hometown, and Roxane Gay does not sugarcoat anything. This book is brutal, emotional, and honestly hard to read at times. It deals with poverty, corruption, kidnapping, torture, rape, and the mental trauma that follows, so please check your triggers before going into this one.
We follow Mireille, her husband Michael, and their son Christophe while visiting her wealthy family in Haiti for the summer. After Mireille gets kidnapped, the book follows both her time in captivity and the aftermath of everything she goes through.
What made this a 5 star read for me was how real and emotional it felt. I felt so connected to Mireille and everything she was dealing with. The writing completely pulled me in and even during the hard parts, I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what happened next.
This is definitely not a light read, but it’s one that’s going to stick with me for a long time.
Since it’s Haitian Heritage Month, I wanted to pick up more books by Haitian authors and An Untamed State came highly recommended by someone in my book club. And wow, this book had me from the very first line: “Once upon a time in a far off land, I was kidnapped.” After that, I could not put this book down.
The story is set in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which is my family’s hometown, and Roxane Gay does not sugarcoat anything. This book is brutal, emotional, and honestly hard to read at times. It deals with poverty, corruption, kidnapping, torture, rape, and the mental trauma that follows, so please check your triggers before going into this one.
We follow Mireille, her husband Michael, and their son Christophe while visiting her wealthy family in Haiti for the summer. After Mireille gets kidnapped, the book follows both her time in captivity and the aftermath of everything she goes through.
What made this a 5 star read for me was how real and emotional it felt. I felt so connected to Mireille and everything she was dealing with. The writing completely pulled me in and even during the hard parts, I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what happened next.
This is definitely not a light read, but it’s one that’s going to stick with me for a long time.