Smashbomb

I won a copy of House of Rougeaux through a Goodreads Giveaway (my first time winning!) I don't think I would have normally picked this up - and I try to enter myself in giveaways for just this reason - to discover new authors and read stories I wouldn't normally seek out.

House of Rougeaux was a wonderful story of a family spanning across the globe and across generations. The saga is non-linear, so it jumps around a bit. I had a hard time following in the beginning and there are quite a few characters to keep straight. But once I got a few chapters in, it was fairly easy to keep track. The family tree illustration in the beginning is super helpful and I fell in love with this family - and the way the author connected the generations was clever and didn't feel forced at all.

From the early 1800's at a sugar plantation in Martinique with Abeje, a healer, and her brother - facing tremendous brutality and loss - only to survive and start the legacy of this story and this family. To more present day with Eleanor, a musician in Canada - faced with a harrowing situation and tough choices, coming full circle.

There is magic and wonder, healing and suffering, as well as music and love. You see these aspects reflected across bloodlines, across generations, from slavery to freedom and across the world. Things are passed down, and you see a bit of some characters in other, through an intricate weaving of layers. But it's easy to see how this family changed and progressed over 100 years, and the spirit that lives within them all.

The story was captivating and the writing, eloquent. Thanks to Goodreads, Jenny Jaeckel and Raincloud Press for the opportunity to read and review.

Kudos

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories

B.J. Novak

6.8 (5 Ratings) Rate It

Book

A boy wins $100,000 in a box of Frosted Flakes - only to discover that claiming the winnings may...

Taste of Torah: Recipes, Divrei Torah & Stories to Enrich Every Shabbat

Aviv Harkov

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

This unique cookbook offers a weekly portion of great food, divrei Torah, and Jewish stories based...

Erika (17788 KP) rated The Lottery and Other Stories in Books

Jun 19, 2019

I've been wanting to read this collection of stories ever since I finished Jackson's @We Have Always Lived in the Castle . The Lottery was a shocking story (apparently) at the time of it's publishing.

The first section was, by far, my favorite, because I could relate to it the most. It consisted of stories of people in plain site that were often ignored, or felt like they didn't belong anywhere. Because I found I could relate to the stories so well, I was completely unnerved that someone could put those feelings into words.

The other sections of stories were mostly domestic/family oriented, which I have no interest in. Nothing bores me more than a stories about children. So, yawn, and that's why I haven't rated this higher.

Finally, The Lottery; now, I can understand why it may have been shocking at the time... Now, not so much. Obviously, with the release of such books that take inspiration from it, i.e., The Hunger Games, it didn't seem new or disturbing. Even South Park had an episode taking inspiration from it; the Britney Spears ep that came out in 2007.

So, loved the first section, and the other sections were just ok. It was kind of cool to see the genesis of future literature that was inspired by "The Lottery".

Kudos

My Naughty Little Sister: A Treasury Collection

Shirley Hughes and Dorothy Edwards

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

An enchanting collection of stories about the most famous little sister in the world, with beautiful...

Lindsay (1717 KP) rated What You Said To Me (Tree of Life #4) in Books

Nov 3, 2020

What you Said to me is a little dry in finding out about the families. This one is good. Though I do not know if the story is more about the girl that looking for her family or just helping in find out about herself.

This story is mostly about the girl that might just need the help to find out what happens in the past to find out why the broken things happen. Where is all went wrong? Will Jillian be able to help her find herself and understand where her mother and her family when wrong in the first place.

This book may have you looking for your family history. We do get past the story point of view as well as the present. Will it be sliver help to find out whatever happened to the Bangt woman and why it ended or how Trisha Crower family got to Cayon Mines?

Why did some leave and only one stay in Cayon Mines? To find out that you will need to read this book. Olivia does a wonderful job of weaving history and family together. Another thing she does is bring the family stories to life. Whatever happens with St. Louis Projects that she working on. Will be that this might not be the last book in the series.