This book is a thought-provoking stream-of-consciousness provoked by over thinking. Are you real if you do not exist in a stranger’s story? Are they real if they do not exist in yours? This book was a bottle of fresh air inhaled in a musty room. I absolutely loved every moment. It reignighted my heartstring’s whimsical “what if” chords. The world is so small that I too see my home city everywhere I go. The New Orleans French Market is in Seattle’s Pike Place. The French Quarter’s architecture is even grander in Vancouver, CA. I see Louisiana in the swamps of Florida and the sunsets of Colorado. I smell home in every bakery and hear it in every jazz song. This book felt like a journey through my heart and soul. His existential prose was like a spider web and as soon as I was stuck fully in his mind, all I could think of was “who can I send this book to next?” I think this is one book everyone should read at least once. It tickled my soul’s imagination and curiosity. It gave me hope and unease, passion and weakness, flowers and gravel, rock walls and a plethora of identical wooden doors, strangers masquerading in friends’ faces… it made me feel like a mouse balancing on a marble, admiring the many cracks reflecting identical patterns of light that almost blind me from seeing what’s right in front of me, which could be everything or nothing in the same breath.

Oh no, some Nice Guys have evil thoughts and when they are forced to act on them they’re still a Nice Guy because it makes them so sad. Was that the plot? Not exactly. Was it the point? Maybe. Do I feel bad for Dr Jekyll? Not really.

Haunting, powerful, terribly heartbreaking, gut wrenching…. This was not a book i could read silently; it made me cry, yell, gasp, and left my heart aching every time I paused for air. If Toni Morrison held back in this book I couldn’t imagine the pain of her first drafts. I understand why this book is such an important part of African American history. In the audiobook introduction they mentioned that most white people who read this book see it simply as a ghost story. I cannot fathom seeing this story as less than a piece of historical fiction based on a real woman and real atrocities committed against real people, not that long ago. Anyone who reads this and sees it as simply a ghost story has a long list of history books to catch up on and needs to reevaluate their morality. This book reminded me of how important it is to read books that make us uncomfortable.

I thought I would enjoy this book more to be honest. I usually love anything sapphic, sci fi, or poetic and I was really looking forward to this one so I admit I’m a little disappointed. I didn’t really connect with the characters and had trouble immersing myself in their love story. I wish the plot and world building was more defined, even if they’re not the focus. It wasn’t terrible, and I’m glad I gave it a chance, but I’m not planning on a second read.