Review: Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

This book was everything, y’all! I loved Jesmyn Ward before but I have a greater appreciation even more so now. It takes such strength to be able to dig deep and talk about the things of our past. Especially the things that still haunt us. I’ve fortunately not had too many brushes with death of the people close to me, but I felt so many emotions with each of the 5 men close to Jesmyn. To see how poverty and certain circumstances (most of which are unpreventable) can effect one’s life and ultimately lead to death is so disheartening. I’ve grown up in a household with a single mom but was fortunate that she was able to provide a great life for me. Luck of the draw, I suppose. There are so many that are able to pull through despite their circumstances but many times our circumstances can literally be the death of us.

In Jesmyn’s novel, the deaths range from drugs, accidents, to even suicide. They happened because of who they were. Because of how the world viewed them. Because of the color of their skin. Because of this the world chewed them up and spit them back out. Not having a standing chance from birth.

This novel was beautifully written. It was everything I expected and more. Seeing this vulnerable side of Jesmyn helped to put a lot of her other novels into perspective. A definite 5 star for me and I cannot to further explore her works in 2019!

“We saw the lightning and that was the guns; and then we heard the thunder and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling and that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.” —Harriet Tubman