Hello my lovely readers! Another day, another book. Let's get into it.
SYNOPSIS
A young girl must face a life-altering decision after awakening her sister’s ghost, navigating truths about love, friendship, and power as the Civil War looms.
Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.
When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests’ coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.
With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind?
SYNOPSIS
A young girl must face a life-altering decision after awakening her sister’s ghost, navigating truths about love, friendship, and power as the Civil War looms.
Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.
When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests’ coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.
With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind?
MY THOUGHTS
I think as someone who reads as much history and non-fiction as I do, it's hard for me to get into historical fiction because I want it to be accurate to the time period.
I think as someone who reads as much history and non-fiction as I do, it's hard for me to get into historical fiction because I want it to be accurate to the time period.
This book was not accurate at all and I think it's due to the author wanting to provide a "well-rounded" view of slavery. She didn't focus much on field work, which I understand, but the way she has Junie act and speak to Violet was completely unrealistic.
Junie and Violet practically come across as besties, which could be true to a point back then, but it was incredibly unrealistic. With the dialogue in this book, you'd be mistaken to think you're reading a novel based during the 1860s. The language was completely modern and I honestly forgot the time period of this novel.
The magical realism and Minnie's ghost initially sold me on reading this novel, but Minnie seemed more of an afterthought as did the unnecessary LGBTQ storyline. To be clear, I only call it unnecessary because it felt like such an out of place afterthought that it wasn't really needed. Slavery was also an afterthought in this novel since, again, the author was so focused on giving a "well-rounded" view of Junie. It felt like a disservice to the historical part of historical fiction.
As authors, especially Black American authors, we have to accept reality and our history. Slavery wasn't pretty. It was gruesome and horrific. Yes, there were cases of enslaved people who had enslavers who weren't "that bad," but it was far and few between. Again, I understand what the author was trying to do, but the execution was off. You could show the horrors of slavery in a subtle way while still focusing on Junie's life as a "house slave" who has big dreams.
Also, this should've been a young adult novel because it really came across as such.
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