Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim is a historical fiction novel which tackles the slave trade in the 19th Century in America. This took me less than a day to listen (I audio-booked it all day while I baked a cake and attempted to make Yorkshire Puddings - which both worked to an extent!). This is what I thought.
Narration - 9.5/10
Storyline - 8/10
Ease of Listening - 8.5/10
This was a beautifully creative book, which was very thought provoking, and tackled the really highly talked about issue of racial inequality. It highlighted the fact that love is thicker than the colour of someone's skin. The only negative, was that every major moment in the book was a bit too predictable. One of the last chapters was what I described on social media as "beautifully predictable". Without telling you what happens, I meant just that. You wanted what happened to happen.
The narrator was fantastic. Bahni Turpin brought the story to life, going so far as singing the featuring lullaby, then getting it into my head, regardless of the fact I was unfamiliar with it prior to the book. She portrayed Mattie really well, and the emotions were real.
After finishing the book, I did a bit of research because it wasn't clear whether this was a true story, and if it was, how such a story came to light. It was fiction, for the record, but the author wrote an element into the story which was so subtle, but absolutely there. Attachment Theory. Read the book, you'll absolutely see it. I found it fascinating. It's such a layered book that you don't realise that this is a major theme, but then after you've finished you wonder how you couldn't see it when it was right there smacking you in the eyes!
All in all, a super interesting book. If it wasn't so predictable, it would have been perfect!
For those of you following me on social media and wondering why another book hasn't been reviewed yet, I am still reading Elske by Cynthia Voigt. It's a really hard book to get into, and I'm not sure about it yet, however I'm hoping to stick with it!
Today marks the start of a 14 day self-isolation period for me, as I have a minor procedure occurring in a couple of weeks. Regardless, any recommendations please let me know!
Stay Safe
Steph 💚
