I’m not generally a short story reader, I like a big chonky tome with so much detail, I could drown in it. But I saw so many fabulous reviews for My Monticello and it was one of Librofm Influencer ALC choices so I decided to go for it.
It was exactly what I struggle with in reading short stories, each one was so compelling that I wanted more. “Control Negro” was so powerful and unusual of a story, I wanted so much more. Within the first few minutes of narration, I was completely hooked, wondering about the backstories of these characters we only get to experience for an epically short time. This was my favorite story of the collection.
The titular story contains one of the most raw characters illustrating the complexity of being a mixed-race woman. Balancing her family’s history with her own desires and the reality of the still-racist world around her, we see Da’Naisha strive for survival. We see all of the characters strive to matter.
My overall rating is not a reflection of the writing, the detail and emotion in it were fabulous and moving. I just wanted more, more, more. I balanced my overall feelings of each work with my desire for more and am landing with ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Usually I give a separate narrator rating but here we get several, they were all great and Levar Burton… squeee!!
Thanks to Librofm for free access to this ALC. All opinions above are my own.
What black author are you reading today in honor of MLK’s dream?
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