This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Odd Dot, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
This audiobook is narrated by Melinda SewaThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Odd Dot, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
This audiobook is narrated by Melinda Sewak. Melinda's voice is engaging and upbeat. This is an enhanced audiobook with music and a soundtrack.The music plays lightly in the background, which helps to hold children's attention but at the same time isn't distracting to older listeners. The soundtrack is used to enhance the narration and appeal to young readers/listeners. This is skillfully done, and my grandkids always love this style audiobook.
This has a fun positive affirmation vibe. The effect is a sweet book that works to build self-esteem in young kids. In essence, this encourages kids to dream big while reinforcing that they can choose their own future. I like the focus on joy and the power of imagination. This is light and the perfect length for toddler and young grade school-age kids.
Thank you to Odd Dot, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Anthony E. Kaye, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley.
This has very interesting historiThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Anthony E. Kaye, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley.
This has very interesting historical aspects but there are serious problems with the portrayal of Nat in this narrative.
This text offers rich a plethora of historical information on Protestant churches in early colonial America, through the Revolution and into the early part of the 19th Century in which Nat's Rebellion occurs. This includes quite a lot of biblical information, bordering on too much, as well as information about the formation of the American Methodist Church. The text also included interesting and relevant information about other Slave Uprisings in the Americas and the Caribbean, such as Gabriel Prosser and the Haitian Revolution. Not as successfully handled is the focus on assumptions regarding how enslaved folks felt about and processed the christian god. Missing in this narrative is the very real and documented practice of what are today called 'African Traditional Religions'(ATR) amongst the enslaved, even christians. Black American religious traditions & superstitions are entirely left out of this narrative and that includes meaningful discussion of Hoodoo, Conjure, Voodoo, etc. The idea that these cultural ideas and mythology in no way impacted Nat or that this was not as much a part of his everyday life as christianity is not a reasonable deduction. For example Frederick Douglas, who was not known to be a believer in or practitioner of ATR, credited High John the Conqueror Root for fighting back against his overseer/enslaver. It's not unreasonable to believe that if Nat was led by religion, it was likely more than Christianity.
The entire theory set forth in this text rests on the belief that the white interviewer, Gray, who recorded Nat's confessions in jail did so honestly. That's highly unlikely, as in there is to date no recorded incident of this ever happening, even when the white interviewer/biographer was friendly towards the Black person they interviewed. Also it assumes that Nat was candidly honest with Gray and I don't know why any adult with a reasonable understanding of history at this time period would give weight to either of these assumptions. For an example I offer the debacle regarding Sojourner Truth's famous, 'Ain't I a Woman?' speech. The speech supposedly given by Ms. Truth and recorded by white feminists and abolitionist, Frances Dana Barker Gage, is now understood to be the offensive exaggeration of Ms. Gage. Frederick Douglas began his own paper, The North Star, in part because of the inaccuracies of white abolitionists. This theory is a major reach and the text never even addresses these questions in a frank and real manner. The narrative attempts to tie Nat to biblical warriors more than other Black leaders of Uprisings during chattel slavery. Unfortunately over the course of the text this framing conjures up 'magical negro' stereotyping which is cringey at best.
The narratives tone toward Nat's Uprising is a touch condescending. There was a reference to Nat's 'bias' towards white people or white enslavers? It's unclear. This is a white supremacist view of Enslaved folks uprisings. Clearly, the biased party are the enslavers, who enslaved Black people. When someone is oppressed, hating your oppressor is both natural and normal. As Malcolm X said, it's not violence, it's common sense. In a very real sense its self defense. Bias would be if West Africans showed up in Europe to steal people and enslave them because they were European. Just wildly offensive to refer to an actual enslaved person as biased against their enslavers. I don't understand how that wasn't removed in editing, it's horribly white supremacist. The modern understanding of and use of the word bias and why being biased is wrong is predicated on the idea that the biased person has no reason to hold bias, they are unharmed by the party they are biased against. For a victim to harm their enslaver isn't bias or violence, it's both common sense and self defense. The author is by default arguing that slave owners are more entitled to life than the Black people they enslaved. This racist thinking further implies that slavery is ok for Black people and for Black folks to fight against it and by default the white people employing that violence, using the same violent tools used against them is somehow immoral or biased on the part of the Black folks rebelling. This is just deeply offensive and unacceptable in a modern text about slavery.
The text directly states that Nat wasn't lead by 'modern' 'liberal' values like freedom and equality. This is just factually untrue. Even during the Antebellum period, enslaved folks repeatedly risked everything for freedom. Equality was a founding principle of both the French & Haitian revolutions. This is demonstrably not factual and reeks of a white historian will study this rationally and let the emotionally compromised Black folks know how they should feel about and view a member of their own community. This is just a horribly dated and white supremacist view of history.
In the final chapter the narration again seems to imply that Nat wasn't entitled to meet violence with violence in order to gain freedom. The text states that the slave owners that died might have changed their mind. This pretends as if slavery is a victimless, nonviolent crime. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those that died, died for the crimes they had already committed. Slavery itself was a crime characterized by unspeakable violence to an extent that can still be read on the bones of the enslaved today. The text doesn't really address the horror that made up everyday slavery: the beatings, the starvation, the lack of basic necessities like clothing and shelter, the family separation, the sexual violence participated in by every stratus of white society from the poor to the wealthy white men, women, children and everyone in between raped Black enslaved men, women, children and everyone in between. Black enslaved infants were used as bait for gators. Black enslaved peoples could have their anuses packed with gun powder because white men were bored. White men raped in packs in the slave quarters and they raped men particularly as part of the practice known as 'slave breaking'. Children were hung in closets for hours by their thumbs because they were the product of rape and it upset their white enslavers wives. The text overly focuses on the violence of the Uprising and refuses to equally focus on the violence that was everyday part of the system of chattel slavery in the Americas. How were Black folks supposed to be respond to that level of violence peacefully in a way that honored that their torturers might at some point have a change of heart? This is just an offensive and white supremacist view that values white life during what was a genocide of Black lives. It's a deeply offensive and tone deaf viewpoint. This is disrespectful in the extreme because Black folks employed every avenue open to them to get away from slavery. They used every tool in their arsenal from lawsuits in court to outright running away. White people as a group employed vast amounts of violence including death to oppress Black folks. They deserved to be met with the force they employed and every white person that died in every single slavery uprising deserved it and more. The genocided don't owe their genociders anything. To suggest otherwise is deeply offensive and a core function of white supremacy. The violence of white enslavers started at birth. Most white enslavers babies were nursed by Black enslaved women. Usually those women's own infants died of starvation while their milk was often exclusively reserved for the white enslaver infant. There were no innocent white folks who were enslavers, independent of their age. Also this is for the surviving descendants of the victims of this violence to decide, not the descendants of the enslavers of those victims to characterize and own. How dare this author even fix his fingers to type such an offensive, racist and white supremacist nonsense.
This was mostly disappointing and offensive. I'd say roughly 25% of the history contained in this text adds meaningfully to the history of Black folks enslaved in what is now the USA. Less than 5% of that useful information pertained to Nat Turner. This texts real value lies in the study of the rise of Protestant religions in North America. It's weakness is it's entire narrative on Nat Turner.
The narrator of this audiobook is Leon Nixon. Leon does a wonderful job keeping the text moving. This is somewhat weighty and heavy subject. The author's tone was lively and respectful.
Thank you to Anthony E. Kaye, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Mai Sennaar, Dreamscape Select, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobook is JuThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Mai Sennaar, Dreamscape Select, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobook is Julia Kwamya. While I did find most aspects of the narration good, the tone was a bit dry in places.
I quite enjoyed this multi-generational historical family story which focuses on the women of the Diaspora. The center of this tale is the love story of Bonnie and Mansour. The couple meet and fall in love in the late 60's. Mansour is a musician and the story covers their travels as a couple. When Mansour becomes unreachable while on tour, Bonnie, his mom, and family look for him. We learn their stories and Mansour's. I love the way this story unfolds.
Treatment of diasporic struggles is deliberately handled with a culturally relevant dexterity that I truly appreciated. I quite adored the international vibe to this!
I can't exactly specify why, but I have a feeling this novel might be better enjoyed in print. I personally plan to reread this in ebook or physical copy. Not all novels translate easily or well to audiobook format. I have a feeling that might be the case with this novel. It could also just be me. Its so hard to say.
I look forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you to Mai Sennaar, Dreamscape Select, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Carole Hopson, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalleyRefreshing this for publication day!
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Carole Hopson, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobook is Alaska Jackson. Alaska did an exceptional job as this book took place in France, Germany, the North, and the South with each resulting accent. This had the function of placing the narration in the background to the story being told. It was a very successful choice for this novel.
This was really, really good. It was significantly better than I was expecting, and I had fairly high expectations. I was an adult when I found out about Bessie Coleman. I grew up learning about Ms. Earhart, but not a peep about Ms. Coleman. So, as an adult, I was amazed that she managed to go all of the way to Paris for flight training. I honestly assumed she was from an at least moderately wealthy and well-connected Black family. I was shocked to discover she was raised as a share cropper, and her mom was single head of household at least part of her growing up life. I've been hungry for a quality historical fiction novel about her life ever since. I have to say this novel was well worth the wait. The novel starts with Bessie in the air and then flashes back to her move to Chicago from Texas before her flight training in France. This covers her meeting with the men who helped her to arrange her training in France as well as helped fund her travels. This covers her training in Europe and her struggles to establish herself back in the US after her successful training. Bessie emerges from this story as a breathing, laughing, flesh, and blood woman. The skills of this author are superb. I know nothing about aviation, nor am I particularly interested in it, but I was riveted to the details in this story. In a way, it reminded me of when I read Pillars of the Earth because I equally don't care about church building. However, in both novels, the information is offered in such interesting ways and tied to such beloved characters, I know it'll live in my memory a surprising amount of time. I hope this author writes more historical fiction. This was phenomenal.
Thank you to Carole Hopson, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Shauna Robinson, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobook This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Shauna Robinson, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobook is Chante McCormick. Ms. McCormick's voice was perfect for Mae. With slight alterations in tone and pitch, Chante was able to effectively give each character their own voice. This allows the reader to simply settle in and enjoy the story. I quite enjoyed her and plan to seek put novels narrated by her in the future.
This was my first time reading a novel written by Ms. Robinson, but it won't be my last. I adored everything about this comfortable adult coming-of-age story.
The reader joins Mae just before her wedding to Conner. Conner is wealthy, from a well-connected family and white. Mae's background is different. Mae's father was Black, and her mother is white. Mae's parents both grew up in North Carolina and left before she was born. There was some drama about her parents interracial marriage that caused a rift in her father's family. As a result, after the death of Mae's father, she loses touch with her father's side of the family.
As a soon to be bride, Mae yearns to learn why her father's family isn't a part of her life. With her weddinh increasingly becoming a society affair put on by the groom's parents, Mae decides to head down to North Carolina.
Mae finds out some truths about those she loves that surprise her. This handles the complexity of interracial families well. I have a white mom and a Black father. Now I was born in the 70s, but it's surprising how much things stay the same.
Thank you to Shauna Robinson, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Tyler Gordon, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley. My grandkids, grade school age, lovedThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Tyler Gordon, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley. My grandkids, grade school age, loved this so much. This is a positive, upbeat story about a young boy accepting his unique voice and exercising it. Narrated by the author and perfect for youngsters. Thank you to Tyler Gordon, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This is absolutely excellent. It carries shades of Kindred by Octavia Butler and slight resemblance to The Time Travelers Wife, yet the story is structThis is absolutely excellent. It carries shades of Kindred by Octavia Butler and slight resemblance to The Time Travelers Wife, yet the story is structured artfully, which kind of reminds me of Cloud Atlas. I loved this. The story is incredibly engaging. I'll definitely read this again....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Joy Avery, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley.
The dual pov romance book has two narraThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Joy Avery, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley.
The dual pov romance book has two narrators: Dara Brown & Beresford Bennett. I love when books with multiple pov characters has individual narrators for each character. It greatly enhances the listening experience.
I had not read anything by this author before, much less the first two installments in the Honey Hill series. None the less I was easily able to follow along and keep up with the characters, the small town antics and figured out the back story. I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I was glad to see that the first 2 novels in this series, Something So Sweet & Sweeter Than Honey are both available on Kindle Unlimited including the audio! I quickly borrowed them both to listen to because I quite loved this small town cozy romance. Honey Hill reminds me of Henry Adams, Beverly Jenkins little town in her Blessings series. I'll definitely be looking for more by this author and in this series.
Thank you to Joy Avery, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Robin Bernstein, Brilliance Audio and NetGalley.
The narrator of this nonfiction hiThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Robin Bernstein, Brilliance Audio and NetGalley.
The narrator of this nonfiction history is Shamaan Casey. The narrator added emotion and depth to this sometimes harrowing narrative.
This tackles the unsavory history of the first for profit prison system in the USA. I, like many others, tied for profit prisons to the chain gang system practiced in the post Antebellum south. Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon focuses on the history of incarceration in the south after the fall of the Confederacy. I honestly thought that system was created at that time. I did not realize it was actually a continuation of the Auburn system of for profit prison exploitation. In the early 1800's prisons in the USA in the north were largely run using a Quaker model of solitary confinement known as the Pennsylvania system. Today we understand this system to be torture but at the time it was thought to allow offenders a place of quiet reflection. This system was focused on the idea of Christian based rehabilitation. Labor was part of this system but it was largely for the purpose of rehabilitation. Prison workers often labored for the prison and their own care. The Auburn system, on the other hand, wasn't concerned with prisoners or rehabilitation, its primary concern was profit. This system basically used solitary confinement to prevent the prison laborers from speaking with the free hired laborers. The prisoners are forced to wear the striped prison uniforms today understood as prison uniforms. To keep prisoners in check and force productivity from them, brutal violence was employed via whipping primarily and water torture known as a shower bath. The prison system is explained thoroughly to assist the reader with understanding the situation that William Freeman ultimately rebelled against. William Freeman is 15 when he's sent to Auburn for horse thievery which Freeman insisted was untrue. At the prison he loudly complained about not getting paid for his labors. This led to discipline which left him without hearing in one ear and other possible brain damage. William is also tortured in a device known as a shower bath. After this he's deeply not okay and begins to attack other prisons for small or perceived slights. Serving five years, William was released and left with his brother in law. William is most likely suffering from complex PTSD and a closed head injury. He struggles to read, when he was easily able to before incarceration. Furthermore William is incensed at his stolen labor and stolen time. He maintained that he was innocent of all charges and had been badly used. William later murderers a white family in retaliation for his suffering and it caused condemnation of the Auburn system. This was a fascinating if a bit harrowing read. I learned quite a bit early US prisons and how choices made at this time led directly to today's prison crisis. I am an abolitionists so this was deeply impact full.
Thank you to Robin Bernstein, Brilliance Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
4.5 Stars Rounded Up This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Alex Travis, Brilliance Audio and NetGalley.
This is primarily 4.5 Stars Rounded Up This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Alex Travis, Brilliance Audio and NetGalley.
This is primarily a mid-twenties coming-of-age: professional career edition story with a second-chance romance plot running concurrently. The romance is handled lightly and is part of the main storyline without becoming the sole focus of the story. Genevieve (Gen) is a lovable, smart, funny, and relatable Black mid-twenties junior reporter for a small town newspaper. Her career has stalled since her initial hiring almost four years ago directly out of college. She is in a demoralizing and frustrating work environment in which her talents are ignored and her coworkers are petty with a side of antagonism. There's an opportunity for a junior reporter to interview the CEO of an important local large family owned business which could offer Gen the chance to turn her career around. The CEO who requested her specifically is her ex-almost fiancé, Jude. Jude is a white man from an extremely wealthy, privileged family. Gen is from a more average middle class Black family. Jude and Gen met through their mutual friend, Oliver, in high school. They were a couple for 6 or so years, well into college, before breaking up in a dramatic public manner. It's four years later and this is Jude's first publicly published piece on his role as CEO. This story is a huge win for Gen's small local paper and an amazing opportunity for her career. This novel deftly manages Gen's ongoing struggles with racism professionally and personally. This is delicately managed without leaning into preachiness or a lecturing tone . At times I felt frustrated as a reader with situations which serves as an excellent indicator of how thoroughly this subject is explored. I appreciate that the romance isn't the only story being told here because it allows this novel to avoid the third act breakup awkwardness. I quite liked both Gen and Jude which also helped. I'd consider Jude a cinnamon roll hero love interest. The conclusion to the multiple storylines is so incredibly satisfying. Whew! I was not prepared to enjoy this as much as I did. This does directly address racism with an overall tone that I deeply enjoyed and appreciated. This is funny, relatable, handled microaggressions in the workplace perfectly, and I liked that Gen really understood her worth as both an employee and a love interest. I will definitely follow this author so I can read their next book.
The narrator of this audiobook is Joniece Abbott-Pratt, one of my favorite narrators. Her voice is rich and lyrical and just immediately immerses you into the story. I'm not surprised I liked Gen with Joniece narrating her.
Thank you to Alex Travis, Brilliance Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley.
This was surprisingly good. I plan This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley.
This was surprisingly good. I plan to pick up a physical copy for my grandkids. They're too young now but won't always be. I was engaged from the beginning and very quickly became invested in these characters. The story is told using 2 alternating timelines with 3 main characters from the 2005 storyline: Penny daughter of a teen single mom, Mina biracial with a father from Ghana and an upper middle class family, and Sheryl a foster kid who has bounced around a bit because her mom struggled with substance abuse. The second timeline from 2024 included 3 new main characters in addition to those from the 2005 storyline: Amber, Penny's daughter, Blossom, Mina's daughter, and Cole, Sheryl's son. In both timelines the story is centered around and focused on high school senior prom.
This deals with some heavy issues including abortion, birth control, foster care, sexual assault, substance abuse, LGBTQA+ struggles, gender expectations, the politics of consent and adoption. Some of these issues are merely mentioned and others are plot points. I don't want to be more specific because of spoilers. So I would say the publishers suggested age of 14 is probably a good benchmark for parents. These issues are crucial for understanding for teens of all genders so I'm glad this novel exists.
I loved that this audiobook has multiple narrators to go with its multiple pov characters. This was narrated by Andy Garcia, Imani Jade Powers, Krysta Gonzales, Matt Bridges, Victoria Connelly and Yinka Ladeinde. The individuality of each separate character voiced by their own narrator truly helped to differentiate the characters as well as made the story easier to follow.
Thank you to Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This history book is expertly and interestingly narrated by JamThis audiobook was made available to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This history book is expertly and interestingly narrated by James R. Cheatham. With a nonfiction history text, it's incredibly important to have a narrator with a personable voice. The last thing a casual reader of history wants with a text like this is to be put to sleep by a boring professorial droning style narration. Cheatham handles this superbly with the exception of his pronunciation of African-American Vernacular English. There's a few direct quotes from formerly enslaved folks included in the text, and the narrator seems to struggle with pronunciation. Otherwise, it was very well done keeping the flow of text interesting.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and fully plan to buy a copy of this for my own personal studies on the so-called peculiar institution. The author is extremely respectful in his discussions of enslaved folks, using the term 'enslaved' vs 'slave', which I appreciated. He avoided language like slave concubine or mistress in describing enslaved women and their situationships with white male slave owners or handlers. This isn't often done, especially if the focus is the Confederacy. I've found historians hesitate to face the horrors of slavery if the focus is from the point of view of Southerners. That's not an issue in this text, and as much as possible, we hear directly from the enslaved themselves.
While I have extensively studied chattel slavery as experienced by West Africans across the diaspora, I'm not as familiar with the US Civil War. Nor had I realized the deep impact that slavery had on the Confederate States. I mean, I knew the Civil War was about slavery and in defense of States Rights to own other human beings, but I hadn't realized how much actual trading in enslaved people continued during the war years.
In many ways, the hopefulness of the Confederacy can be judged by the dollar value enslaved folks are assigned during this period. This fluctuated based on the state, the advance of the Union Army, and enslaved folks' ability to run off to the Union. The Civil War caused many Confederate slave owners to speculate on what would make them the most money after the war. As a result, there was a rigorous trade in women and children. Children were often cheaper and judged based on the speculation of their adult labor. Women were purchased for what was called their 'increase'. I know that often enslaved folks' children brought their captors more money than their labor did. Once it was illegal to bring new enslaved folks over from Africa, that automatically increased the value of the enslaved folks already in the US. This was increased further by exploiting and breeding enslaved women and girls. So many Confederate soldiers advise their wives and families to invest in these specific type of enslaved people. Enslaved men always ran away the most, and the war increased these fears in Confederate slave owners.
Truly interesting was that many enslaved families were broken up and displaced during this period. Husbands, wives, children, and other family members sold apart from each other. Often sold deeper into the Confederacy in hopes of keeping the enslaved from Union promises of freedom. Or ruining that freedom by leaving the enslaved states away from beloved family members. As a final act of cruelty, many former enslavers refused their formerly enslaved any information about where their loved ones had been sold or relocated to. This cruel practice drastically increased suffering for the formerly enslaved and still impacts Black Americans today. Most of us struggle to locate lost family members as slave owners records are still today considered private property. In essence, my ancestors are still owned by the descendants of those who enslaved them as the information has been refused to my family. It's infuriating and unfair. Their records should've been confiscated during Reconstruction.
It was surprising to read about the rigorous sale of enslaved and free Black folks during the Civil War. Free Black folks were stolen and sold further south by regular slave traders. Escaped formerly enslaved folks who freed themselves could be returned to slavery or sold to other enslavers by Union soldiers looking to make quick money. In Union held Slave States like Maryland & Kentucky, enslaved folks were smuggled into Confederate States to be sold at higher prices. Confederate soldiers stole other Confederates enslaved folks to make quick money. Some enslaved folks were sold to punish them by owners upset about the Civil War. Even as prices dropped, this rather rigorous trade continued even into 1865!
I learned a lot about how slavery operated in the Confederacy and a bit about how it worked in the Union. This really added depth to my understanding of this period in history.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Dr. Eddie L. Fields-Black, RB Media, and NetGalley.
This i5 full enthusiastic stars
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Dr. Eddie L. Fields-Black, RB Media, and NetGalley.
This is so much more than a history of the Combahee River Raid. This covers the history of the area from colonization until 1863 and beyond. It also goes over the basic laws that governed the Transatlantic Slave Trade and how that functioned on the West African coast as well as in English colonies and later the United States. To label this as 'thorough' does not do it justice. This is unbelievably meticulous. Dr. Fields-Black outdid herself with this. I'm blown away.
This offers a fascinating look at Harriet Tubman and her family, of course. Also, other Black folks of this era and beyond are discussed: Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth come immediately to mind. This isn't a biography of Tubman. There already exist at least two very thorough biographies of her, as the author herself points out. This does give some biographical information on other participants in the Combahee River Raid. This really offers a tremendous education not only on this particular Raid but also how chattel slavery functioned during the Antebellum period full stop.
I pre-ordered this in book form as soon as I read about it, though this review is based on the audiobook. After listening to this, I also ordered a copy from Audible. I look forward to rereading this. This is information dense, and I need to return to it to see what it can add to my own personal studies of US chattel slavery. The information is organized in logical ways, and the narrative flows smoothly. I highly recommend this for my abolitionist friends as well as my history friends. This offers something for everyone. Harriet Tubman was amazing. She has been a personal hero of mine my entire life. May she rest in power♥️
The narrator of this history book is Machelle Williams. Her voice is crisp, educated, and relaxed. Her skill with narration makes this feel not at all long or like a history lecture. Well done.
Thank you to Dr. Eddie L. Fields-Black, RBMedia, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Denny S. Bryce, RB Audio/Recorded Books, and NetGalley.
This audiobook is narrated This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Denny S. Bryce, RB Audio/Recorded Books, and NetGalley.
This audiobook is narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt and Chanté McCormick. I like that each point of view character got their own narrator. It helps to keep track of who said what to whom, which is important in an audiobook. Also, Joniece Abbott-Pratt is one of my favorite narrators.
This is told in alternating chapters and timelines. Roberta Brooks is the 20 yr old niece of Alice, and her timeline begins in 1940. She works at the New York Amsterdam, a local Black paper as an assistant. She's hoping to be a reporter in the future. Her first real reporting assignment is to meet with her Aunt Alice.
Alice Beatrice Jones is the maternal aunt of Roberta. Her POV chapters began in 1921. The trial itself began in 1924. Alice is the middle child of 3 girls born to her British parents. Emily is the oldest sister, and she marries Robert, a Black man, and is Roberta's mother. Gracie is the youngest. She marries a white Italian man, Anthony 'Footsie' supposedly attached to the mafia. The sisters are mostly close. Her husband is a casual friend at first, and eventually, they have a full-blown relationship.
The book deals with race throughout much of the narrative, but I wish the novel had gotten into the differences between the British and US view of race at that time. Instead, this had a different focus, and it really worked well.
I read Love on Trial by Heidi Ardizzone & Earl Lewis in 2021, which is a nonfiction history of the Rhinelander trial. So, I was familiar with the basics and super excited to be approved for this arc from NetGalley. This was really, really well done. I advance ordered the audio from Audible because I'll definitely read this again.
Thank you to Denny S. Bryce, RB Audio/Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by O.O. Sangoyomi, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley.
Ariel Blake is the narrator for thisThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by O.O. Sangoyomi, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley.
Ariel Blake is the narrator for this historical fiction novel set in pre-colonial West Africa. Her accents for Òdòdó and the other characters are lively. This helps keep the characters straight in an audiobook narrative.
This is very loosely a retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades. I would describe it primarily as historical fiction, fantasy, magical realism, with feminist undertones. This novel reminds quite a bit of Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord or even a much less sexy Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. Almost modern mythology as much as a novel. It works really well.
The main character, Òdòdó, is both a blacksmith and the daughter of a blacksmith. Blacksmiths are unmarried women and often labeled pejoratively as witches. They are ostracized, impoverished and ridiculed in society at large as well as their village, Timbuktu. Even more so under the regime. Since the recent conquering of Timbuktu by Yorubaland, local tensions have escalated. It is in this situation Òdòdó is kidnapped and taken to Ṣàngótẹ̀, the capital of Yorubaland. Once there she learns she is to be the wife of the warrior king.
Life in Ṣàngótẹ̀ is lush and beautiful but ruled by political rules Òdòdó does not understand made by political Court players she does not know. To survive this Court, she will need to keep her finger on the pulse. I loved everything about this! The story flows easily. It's a fascinating, rich, lyrical and magical journey! While I was allowed a copy of this to review, I've since gone ahead and purchased my own Kindle and Audible copy. Òdòdó is a phenomenal character strong, kind, warm, intelligent, quick and skilled. This was more than I dared hope for and eagerly await the next novel from this author.
Thank you to O.O. Sangoyomi, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
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