Hey Bookworms, if you’re in Canada, I hope you had a happy long weekend! I don’t observe monarchist holidays but I’ll take advantage of the long weekend, that’s for sure 😆. Anyway, we continue with the “Old Review Dust-Off“, a series where I re-share my old reviews of books I think deserve more attention. The first one I did was for The Invisible Library and if you’re reading this I invite you to join in: re-share an old review of a book you wish got more love! Tag me and together, maybe we can get more eyeballs on books! 🖤
Today’s review I’m re-sharing is for When We Were Birds
About When We Were Birds
Author: Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
Genre(s): Literary Fiction/ Fantasy/ Magic Realism
Publisher: Doubleday
Format Read: Physical
Year Published: 2022
Source: Library Borrow
Standalone
Cover Artist: Raxenne Maniquiz
Synopsis
Darwin, a Rastafarian man trying to make ends meet, accepts a job in the big city. The catch? Working at the cemetery will require him to betray his every belief and separate him from his mother. Yejide, the latest heir to her family’s ancestral power to guide the dead, meets Darwin, and together they face responsibilities and challenges they never asked for.
Pace: Medium, Character Driven
Tone: Mysterious, Emotional
Mini-Review
This book was more literary than I normally go for but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The story is set in Trinidad and was written in an English Creole dialect, infusing so much life into the story and characters. The writing style was so immersive that it felt like I could actually hear these characters speaking.
I got attached to both characters but I wish more equal attention had been given to them; we followed Darwin more than Yejide. I loved learning about Yejide’s family and the intricacies of their drama and power, I was completely sucked in but I wanted more.
The cemetery as a setting was so expansive and descriptive; it was both magical and mundane. I really enjoyed the fact that most of the action happened in the cemetery. I’m not a big fan of magical realism, but in the end, the way this book incorporated elements of it worked for me. Although I found a couple of sections that were a bit too abstract, and thus hard for me to follow, they were few and far between.
Final Thoughts & Rating
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who wants to read a character-based story that explores some philosophical questions regarding death, tradition, and familial obligations. Please note that when I wrote this review I was not using the CAWPILE rating method. I’ll attempt to rate the categories as best as my memory allows given I read this about 2 years ago (For reference I gave it 4 stars on GR).
| CAWPILE | Rating (0-10) |
|---|---|
| Characters | 8 |
| Atmosphere | 10 |
| Writing Style | 8 |
| Plot | 7 |
| Intrigue | 8 |
| Logic | 7 |
| Enjoyment | 8 |
Representation
Black, Trinidadian, Rastafarian
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of Parent, Emotional Abuse, Grief
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Abandonment, Religious Bigotry, Classicism,
Minor (Mention): Slavery, Alcohol, Sexual Content
Let’s chat in the comments!
How do you feel about Magic Realism? Whether or not you want to dust off any of your old reviews, feel free to share the links for your latest post so I can spread the love!
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