whitneydaniell

by: Diane Marie Brown
published: Feb 28, 2023
genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Contemporary
336 pages, Hardcover
GoodReads Link

What a letdown. I went into reading this book hopeful! I’m trying to get into fantasy and I will read anything written about, written for, or written by a black woman so… But where did I go wrong here? I really wanted this book to give me American Horror Story Season 3, #IYKYK. Let me try to break down my thoughts.

I. Characters – the story is told from the point of view of four, of the five, Montrose women.
– Augusta or Nanagusta is the matriarch and the backbone of the whole story. The lives of her only daughter, two granddaughters, and great-granddaughter are all affected by the decisions she made as a young woman.
– Victoria is the oldest granddaughter of Agusta and a complete dipshit for 99.9% of the book.
– Willow is the youngest granddaughter of Agusta, only younger than Victoria by maybe a year and some change; they’re Irish twins. Willow is the best part of most of the book. Despite how Victoria makes her out to be, Willow is the only one (at times) who has any good sense.
– Nickie is Victoria’s only daughter and the only great-granddaughter to Nanagusta. She is a sheltered, naive seventeen-year-old girl who behaves like a sheltered, naive seventeen-year-old girl.

I felt like the story focused heavily on Nanagusta and Victoria and just skipped over integral parts of Willow and Nickie’s characters. I was left wanting to know more about Jimmie and Willow. How is it that Willow loved him so but yet her sister just assumed he was another fling? Furthermore, what kind of girl code does Victoria operate from because, sister or not, I would have put my hands on her! “The family fucked my husband.” — If you know you know. With Nanagusta, I saw exactly where that was going, didn’t even need to read ahead it was so blatant. I disliked how the “curse” was heavily relied on throughout the whole story like it was something to fear or relish. Willow was the only one real enough to say… ‘people die everyday B‘. Then Madelyn pops up outta nowhere and her backstory is like an afterthought! She has the most intriguing story of them all, addiction aside, she was treated like a seat-filler but in reality, her story plays a large role in all the women’s lives. But the cherry on top of this “character ice cream cone” is January! Why are we left to assume about him? Why wouldn’t Victoria immediately call her sister to tell her about this trifling man? Why does another month (or so) pass before Willow comes home after coming to her conclusion about this man? I mean, Victoria has no bro-code when it comes to her sister and that is the most infuriating part of this whole book. She was a terrible person to everyone.

II. The Story/Plot.
I wanted more “fantasy” but this book is not fantasy. There is no world that we’re looking into as a reader. This is more like contemporary fiction with some witchcraft thrown in there. Again, the whole secret of Agusta, I sniffed out early on. The way Victoria held on to this “curse” and yelled it from the rooftop to any man in a mile radius further let me know that, it wasn’t going to be as what it seemed. I felt like many plot holes were left, questions unanswered, and areas of the story that stepped outside of my realm of reality. This thread of Nickie and Felix… I get it, you need a vehicle to move the plot forward but, I don’t think that should have been it. You would think, the way Victoria behaves that she would have been preparing Nickie for her gifts her whole life. Also, are we just left to assume who has the gift from Lanora? I have so many unanswered questions but maybe that was the point.

III. The Writing.
The highlight of the whole book was the writing style. It was easy to read, the dialogue felt real for the times and the ages of the characters, and I appreciated the chapter length. Although, with all the characters originally from New Orleans, I did expect to hear some French Creole thrown in there, especially from Agusta and Madelyn since they lived most of their whole lives in NOLA. Victoria and Willow moved to California when they were young teens, so I could understand them losing their accents or language. Also, Agusta doesn’t “speak” in the present-day, save for one word, because of a stroke she had but her chapters are mostly written from the past, but even then in her dialogue while in NOLA in the 50s and 60s, there is no creole. Some NOLA staple cuisine is mentioned: etouffee, gumbo, jambalaya, and beignets; the history of hurricanes (the drink), Pat O’Brien, and the French Quarter are also mentioned but, nothing more about the history and culture of Hoodoo and Voodoo as it relates to New Orleans. Mark missed there.

Final Thoughts: I’m always rooting for everybody black! Would I pick it up again? Probably not. Would I recommend it to a friend? Maybe. This is the author, Diane Marie Brown’s first book so I won’t count her out. All in all, it was a cute, quick read and I’m not mad that I bought it.