An American Marriage in Words Between Worlds

Feb 11, 2018 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, rec-ig-blogs-friends-other, arc-copy, from-publisher, _own-ebook, _own-home-library, edelweis-netgalley_review, all-time-favorite, rec-book-riot, botm

I really enjoyed Tayari Jones' previous novel Silver Sparrow so I've been eagerly awaiting the release of this book. It was so worth the wait. This is a fantastic novel and I could not put it down. I love how Jones uses a compelling story to explore themes of mass incarceration and what it is like to be black in the American South. I also loved how marriage was explored in this novel. This is one of those novels that would be perfect for discussing with other readers ... there is just so much in ...more

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Feb 27, 2018 Megan C. rated it really liked it

“You can never really unlove somebody. Maybe it changes shape, but it’s there.”

I can’t remember ever empathizing with a set of characters so completely. I am the champion devil’s advocate – my family gets really irritated at me because I will ALWAYS argue an opposite angle or perspective, even if I don’t agree with it, just to demonstrate that there is never just one side to any story. In American Marriage, @tayari lays out all the angles. And it is radiant, and heart wrenching and real and l ...more

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Mar 09, 2018 Rachel Rooney rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, fiction, 2018, highly-recommended, diverse-author

Longlisted for the National Book Award.

Roy and Celestial have only been married for a year and a half when something happens that will test their marriage more than some marriages ever get tested. What happens is common knowledge, but I found it an odd choice to tell readers. Anyway, you can just read another summary or the book's dust jacket.

This book is very compelling. I listened to the audiobook, and it was very well done. My only complaint with the book really is that I have misgivings abou ...more

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Feb 25, 2018 Stephenie rated it it was amazing

This book is filled with perfectly written sentences. Rarely do I read a book and find myself thinking, "Wow, I loved that sentence. Let me read it again." There were a lot of beautiful sentences in this book, making hard not to love. Yes, this book received a lot of hype, but in my opinion, it was all well deserved.

Roy and Celestial are newly married, living in the south when Roy is accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit. This story follows Roy and Celestial through his five years o ...more

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Feb 15, 2018 Flo rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle, owned, owned-pittsburgh, botm

“I'm alone in a way that's more than the fact that I am the only living person within these walls. Up until now, I thought I knew what was and wasn't possible. Maybe that's what innocence is, having no way to predict the pain of the future. When something happens that eclipses the imaginable, it changes a person. It's like the difference between a raw egg and a scrambled egg. It's the same thing, but it's not the same at all. That's the best way I can put it. I look in the mirror and I know it' ...more

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