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

Sam (74 KP) rated The Unauthorised Biography in Books

Mar 27, 2019

I loved this! I got so excited when I saw the thirteen questions about Lemony Snicket that were being asked, and I loved it even more when I discovered that they were being answered in the typical Snicket way – cryptic and nonsensical.

The book is made up of multiple letters, newspaper clippings and diary entries that explain everything and nothing at the same time.

It did give a few of the characters some more background which I enjoyed, and it explained the relationship between the characters a lot more than the book series does.

It never tells you the exact truth. I stared at the Snicket family tree for ages trying to work out the initials!