[REVIEW] Sing, unburied, sing

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

High expectations are always a bad thing. I wanted this book to be a 5* and that's probably what ruined my rating... not ruined, it's a very solid 4*, but not more than that -- for me, of course.
I loved the writing, I loved the touch of magical realism, I cared for Jojo and Kayla from the first pages...
It described perfectly the troubles of a struggling family without ever telling too much... a mother with an addiction, the kids' feelings for their absent mom and dad, disease... the amount of magic was enough until the last chapters: when it started to sound more like exorcism, and everyone was "gifted" to see dead people, the book lost me a bit... solid 4*, but not 5.
In the end, I feel the author made an effort to remind the readers of the ones who suffered horrible deaths and should be always remembered and acknowledged, never forgotten. I liked that!

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[REVIEW] Upstream

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, it´s time to say goodbye to this collection…
I have been reading and re-reading it and never wanting to stop… Jumping from page 56, to 21, to 110, to 5 … It was like that for more than 2 years...
The only solution I found was to buy other Mary Oliver´s books (2) in the meanwhile, so I could have (2) reasons to take this one away from my night stand. And so I did, I finished it.
I enjoyed all her reflections, although as a vegetarian I struggled a bit while reading about eating turtle eggs… The chapter about Whitman was not so simple, I took my time and probably need to revisit it a few more times before fully understand it --> it´s poetry in a language different than my native one, after all…
But it´s beautiful! It´s peaceful, it highlighted beauty in birds, dogs, wind, trees… it made me love just the fact I am alive…


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