4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up. This book is gorgeously written, and tells a beautiful story. The moment you start, you, as the reader, are shoved into a mix of so many strong, powerful emotions. The story talks about a biracial man who inherits the property of his white grandfather, which turns out to have been a former plantation with a big past. The story is told in two timelines, past and present. While you're reading, you're filled with questions about anything and everything, The story shows a realistic, illustrative dissection of how one man thinks as he grapples to understand his emotions. While the writing is a little wordy, it makes up for that with its descriptions. The imagery is amazing, and really paints a picture in your mind's eye.
The narrator acts as both a son and a father in the story, easily telling the tales of these timelines. The story takes place after his son’s death, and he spends a large portion of the book speaking to his son as he tries to get through with good parenting. Raising a child is hard, especially as you know the whole world around you is against you. The narrator has gone through this with his own father, and then, as a father, passes these lessons down to his own son. An inheritance left to his son by his white grandfather creates a whole new problem he had never expected to have. He's filled with stress from his books, to his son, to mixing his meds with alcohol, and in-between all of these, a jellyfish sting brings the reader along for a trippy journey.
Overall, I loved this story and would definitely recommend.
The narrator acts as both a son and a father in the story, easily telling the tales of these timelines. The story takes place after his son’s death, and he spends a large portion of the book speaking to his son as he tries to get through with good parenting. Raising a child is hard, especially as you know the whole world around you is against you. The narrator has gone through this with his own father, and then, as a father, passes these lessons down to his own son. An inheritance left to his son by his white grandfather creates a whole new problem he had never expected to have. He's filled with stress from his books, to his son, to mixing his meds with alcohol, and in-between all of these, a jellyfish sting brings the reader along for a trippy journey.
Overall, I loved this story and would definitely recommend.