Thendral's Take: August 2021
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Overall
The premise is very unique, but the actual writing and plot development makes the book fall so very short of what it promises.
The blurb claims the book is like Devil Wears Prada meets Get Out, but I felt it was really more of Get Out.
It's only my curiosity to see what happens in this Get Out setting that made me get through this book. At 350ish pages, which is slightly shorter than the average book I read, I thought I should be done with this fairly quickly. It took me two days because the writing was choppy and awkward.
Too many words were used to tell you about things that didn't matter and too little words were used for things you actually need to know. And it's not in a good way.
Despite the overt, obvious differences between the characters that you had to know for the plot, they didn't have any differences in tone or style which made for a very monotonous read in the sense that all the characters felt like one person.
I'm a bit torn about what to say with this. I like the premise, and the exploration of privilege and racism is brilliant. But the writing was fairly hard to get through. It felt like I was reading the first draft of a very promising read in that the book needs so many more revisions.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
My Thoughts
This book should have come with a huge, HUGE trigger warning for depression, suicide and I guess anxiety too. I found these very triggering and upsetting. But it's also a very poignant exploration of depression (which, side note, makes me unsure on who the target audience of this book should be or to be like, if you like this you should read this). Don't be fooled about the word library in the title, this book has nothing to do with libraries and books, it's more of a metaphor and I would say the primary theme is something along the line of parallel universes.
To be honest with you, this book was a very cathartic release for me. I had a difficult time getting into it and I kind of gave up twice but decided to stick it out and I'm glad I did. For a variety of reasons, this book was exactly what I needed to read right now. I laughed, I cried, and despite the dark, dark nature and premise of this book, I found hope. I think if you've been here for some time, you probably know I'm fairly ready to turn 30; I'm ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. Something about this book made me want to savour the last 104 days of my 20s - really focus on where I am, appreciate my twenties and my 29th year and show some gratitude before moving on to my 30s.
Overall
If you've read Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid and enjoyed it, I would say give this a shot too. Both explore the idea of lives you would have lived if you had taken the other path - TJR's was more chick flick, happily ever after. Matt Haig's is more sci fi and mental health. And I love both equally for the differences and similarities.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Overall
The writing alone deserves a special mention. It is SO good! It's to the point, yet it's so packed with meaning and intention that you don't want to miss a single word. It's only 300 pages long but the amount of history that's packed into it is mindblowing. The book takes you through different characters who are descendants of two primary characters. Each chapter is for a descendent from either character. This should make the book a series of short stories but somehow it was so gripping and I had to find out what happens - with each character, what they pass on, etc.
Everything is written in a way that it's for your own interpretation - obviously, with themes that are unique to a group of people such as slavery, you can't, you can only sympathise but experiences such as that of a teenager who was born in one country but grew up in another and is trying to understand where she belongs is very relatable.
The way the book started and ended by tying up everything together is so marvellous. It's not the kind of happily ever after I'm used to, but this book made my day. I don't even have anything to say I didn't remotely enjoy. All I have to say is, if you're looking for a book to read, make this your next!
*Subscribe to my monthly newsletter, "Thendral's Telegraph" here!*
