I love Alice Hoffman and I wanted to like this book but it wasn‘t her best work. There were a few beautiful passages, and little bits of magic tucked in here and there. I love how Alice Hoffman can turn a phrase. But overall this was just blah and the ending wasn‘t very satisfying.

I don‘t understand how this book has so many good ratings. There is barely any character development and without that, not much carries any weight. The love interest, Roarke, has zero character arc. The main character, Eve barely does. So when they got together I wasn‘t really invested in them. Plus- trigger warnings- child death, rape, and pedophilia. Pass.

What a beautiful book. I savored this in small sittings over the course of a month or so. Braiding sweetgrass was like poetry to me. There is so much to love here, I don‘t know where to begin...but I‘m jealous of anyone who gets to experience it for the first time! Bravo.

Wow. I couldn‘t put this down. This is based on a true story, about Eliza Lucas and her quest to grow indigo in South Carolina. The author did a wonderful job imagining what it would have been like to be Eliza. Excellent character building and prose. ❤️❤️

So glad I read this book. Eye opening. I appreciated the prologue and epilogue and thought it was wise of Hurston to resist pressure placed on her to modify Cudjo‘s speech- I feel like his words and personality really came through with the use of the vernacular.

Meh. Nothing special... this is about a bigamist and how his actions effect those around him. I wish the author had fleshed out the characters a little more. I feel like the climax of the story happened at the very end (about the 90% mark) and then it all wrapped up too quickly/cleanly. 🤦‍♀️

Well written and I found the history of WHY we celebrate in certain ways very fascinating. I also liked hearing how people celebrate around the world. But I didn‘t find a lot of actionable ideas.