Lilly

I enjoyed it. I think it's good work of fiction, but I don't think it should be taken as an actual insight into the lives and minds of black women at the time.

It kept me on edge the whole time.

I liked it, but I felt like there should have been more to the story. It may have just been the pace I was reading at, but it felt like the ending came too quickly and I was left feeling disappointed.

The last line was also a little confusing to me. I understand the Little Seamstress wanting to leave and experience the city. Maybe I missed something, but part of her reasoning being what she had learned from Balzac, “that a woman's beauty is a treasure beyond price.”, didn't make sense to me and didn't fit with my impression of her character. Again, I was reading quickly toward the end, so I could have missed something, but it just felt like a weird turn to take.

I gave it a 4 out of 5 because the beginning felt kind of slow, but it picked up as the book went on. Also, the ending seemed kind of abrupt, like there was more to the story, but it was never written down. This was probably just a style choice by the author and maybe I'm spoiled, but it left me feeling kind of unsatisfied.

I liked the romance between Maria and Michele. I found it to be kind of tragic and Romeo-and-Juliet-esque.

I also like the way her family was depicted. They were dysfunctional and her father was definitely abusive, but no one was painted as an absolutely evil person, like I was expecting. Just troubled people that did bad or misguided things.

I found the constant mention of what seemed like little kids having figures and flirting to be weird. Maybe it's because it's a different time and country, but I don't remember being worried about my figure in the 4th grade. Or maybe I did and I blocked it out. Or I'm just weird or “too PC”. All entirely plausible. If the author was trying to critique something, I missed it. It just felt uncomfortable to me.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing for this giveaway book. #GoodreadsGiveaway

I found it interesting, but some parts were a little dry and cringey.