here’s the thing, Jesmyn Ward is an incredible writer and clearly a profound thinker and i want to read every word she ever writes✨

i live for the poetic writing style, the way she makes me feel every feeling, how i have to re-read sentences because they are so complex and beautiful. i entered into the world Ward painted in this novel, i felt the deep sense of despair, heard the poetic sounds of loss 

i feel like this book is the epitome of Baldwin’s words - “you have to decide who you are, and force the world to deal with you, not its idea of you.” Annis, the protagonist, will not back down to anyone - not her sire, not her enslaver, not even the powerful spirits that accompany her. and she will not let anyone tell her what her version of freedom should look like, will not let anyone convince her to settle for less than what she dreams freedom is

if you haven’t read any of Ward’s work yet, i wouldn’t start with this one. i think Sing, Unburied, Sing and Salvage the Bones are much easier spaces to enter with her, to get a sense of her writing style before taking on Let us Descend. the magical realism was extremely strong and sometimes felt overwhelming, but i think i will have a deeper appreciation for it in a re-read

i read this with the lovely @makealongstorycount and i am so glad i could discuss it with her along the way! our @storygraph buddy read thread has an extensive set of comments 😅