from Amazon:"Amari's life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and living in a beautiful village, she could not have imagined everything could be taken away from her in an instant. But when slave traders invade her village and brutally murder her entire family, Amari finds herself dragged away to a slave ship headed to the Carolinas, where she is bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a birthday present.
Survival seems all that Amari can hope for. But then an act of unimaginable cruelty provides her with an opportunity to escape, and with an indentured servant named Polly she flees to Fort Mose, Florida, in search of sanctuary at the Spanish colony. Can the illusive dream of freedom sustain Amari and Polly on their arduous journey, fraught with hardship and danger?"
This book was haunting and awful and beautiful all wrapped up in one. Amari's survival through the brutalities and hardships she faces as a slave is just amazing. Throughout the book, I wondered how people could survive these horrors. The answer testifies to the tenacity of the human spirit - hope. I was blown away. I love how it shows Amari struggling to like any white person, even ones who show her kindness or help her. I imagine it was extremely difficult to overcome those feelings of revulsion. Though the part where they run away seems a little lacking in detail, I had to keep reading to know what happened to Amari, Polly, and Tidbit.
RATINGS:
s-factor: !
Mostly racial slurs.
mrg-factor: X
Rape is commonplace, but not described.
v-factor: ->->
Violent death and other cruelty to slaves. Not overly descriptive, however.
Overall rating: ****
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It will give you a taste of the fun:
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(which I adored), but it has a similar feel. The setting on the moors is undoubtedly the most prominent part of this book and gives it the isolated, mysterious, perfect place for a mystery. The romance part fell flat for me - did she really fall in love with a man she met twice? Mary was a strange character - sometimes showing courage and wit and other times becoming a frightened child. I guess she is a lot like many women in that way (me included). All told, I was intrigued and entertained.
is the story of Joseph Michtom, the son of immigrant parents, and one very lucky boy. At least, in everyone else's eyes. His parents "made it big" when they invented the teddy bear. Now the Michtom's have plenty of money, but not plenty of time. Joseph misses the family dinners filled with talking and laughter. He dreams most often of going to Coney Island, but fears it will never happen, because the family is so "lucky" they have too much work. This book mixes episodes of Joseph's life with brief scenes from the lives of truly unlucky children into one complete view of Brooklyn life in the early 1900s.
is an urban fantasy about Aislinn, a girl who can see faeries. But the faeries in this tale are definitely not the short, harmless type. All her life, she has followed the rules to avoid letting the faeries know she can see them. But now, she has attracted the attention of two faeries, and suddenly the rules aren't working anymore.
fans.
is the story of Mau and Daphne (also called Ermintrude, but really, who would want that name?) After a huge wave devastates Mau's island and wrecks Daphne's ship, the two of them must fight the ghosts of their past and the terrors of being alone, but together they can be the start of a new Nation.
tells the story of one lonely old hound dog who decides to shelter a calico cat and her two kittens. Thus begins an unlikely but powerful relationship between the cat, the dog, and the kittens. But, even while they are safe hiding in the Underneath (under the house), danger lurks just beyond that place since Gar Face, the dog's owner, is a cruel and ruthless master. When one kitten ventures out of the safe place, it sets off a chain of events that has been waiting for many centuries...
is a very interesting look at the ever-famous Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. Orasmyn, a prince of Persia, is a devout Muslim, but after making a minor error of judgement he is cursed by a wicked fairy. He becomes a beast and must try to remember the man in him and also save his father from doing something he will regret forever. After traveling for a long time, beast finds a young woman in France, Belle, who will possibly change him forever.
is a fictionalized account of the last day of Helmuth Hubener's life. Helmuth was a young man living in Germany during World War II. His reminiscences of what led to his imprisonment and subsequent execution tell of a courageous and dedicated young man who wanted to share the truth with everyone.
book for further study, written by one of Helmuth's friends. I am definitely checking it out.
