An American Marriage (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel

Worth reading, did not drag, just not my cup of tea.

This book is the emotional whirlwind you’d expect after reading the back cover. What starts off as a relatively straightforward story provides twist after twist, but not in a gimmicky way. There are three narrators for the story, and each one is handled well and the story is easy to follow. What really struck me was the amount of infidelity in the story and the way the characters handled it. That — coupled with the insistence on preserving gender roles — was a bit shocking if not annoying, but I won’t pretend like this isn’t reality for some. While I did not agree with some (most?) of the characters’ actions, I can see where they were coming from, at least in theory. There seems to be this assumption that black men (and not black women) are the only victims in a police state, a sentiment I can’t get behind, but again, I know this rings true for some people, so it’s not exactly a criticism of the text itself. This book is entertaining and thought-provoking, though I can’t promise the thoughts it provokes will be pleasant…

"𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒆 & 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆." 𝔸𝕟 𝔸𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕘𝕖 - Tᴀʏᴀᴿɪ Jᴏɴᴇ ⭐ ( 🤷🏾‍♀️ / 10 ) I really don't know This is a first. This one. Hm. I really don't know. This one kind of put me in a pickle. It took me THEE longest to read/listen to. This was a pickle because I feel like I kept trying to read more & then a certain spot would make me stop to think about it. Long & hard & a 8ish hour audible stretched into 2 weeks... Might be longer, I dunno. Let's start with the female character Georgia/Celestial. I had way too many mixed emotions about her. First. Before anything went down, she gave me red flags for some reason. Not exactly selfish, but kinda? But also somehow people pleasing? Don't ask me how you do both but she managed it. I don't know something about her just rubbed me wrong & a lot of the story I just wanted to ignore anything she said or did. I did not. Secondly, I found, home girl is just like me. I am not a rider. If you are in jail for longer than the weekend. I no. I aint waiting. This situation though! It made me want to shed some tears 'cause this really does happen. "The tall black man did it" turns into, "Hey, you there black man, you did this!" & case closed, life gone for years no repercussions even after... Look it pissed me off & I walked away several times. So. Idk what to do in this situation & I hated reading about it & I simultaneously loved it because it ends with everyone being in the same predicament. The audience & the characters. Just kinda moving on. It's resolved & it simultaneously isn't. It's a limbo I never want to experience. One character, she gets her happy ending & Roy gets a "this is the best I can hope for." & it's neither of their fault. Roy, FYI I can't tell you how I feel cause I only have a half of him at different angles. The beginning when he was a goof/good guy to a point and had virtually everything. & then the after when he has lost everything & I just don't know how to grade this book but I LOVED EVERYTHING even the things I hated. ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝘑𝘢𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘖𝘶𝘵

Really important book as it illustrates social injustices and black love and relationships.

It was a good book ! It makes you think about how life is so different for people when they are out of prison for so many years . I was hoping that Celestial had some character development but for some reason she grew more selfish and annoying to me . I enjoyed the story !