B. Haas reviewed Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins (An Avon romance)
Review of 'Forbidden' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I liked the story and the characters quite a lot, but I was put off by the writing. There were several parts where the author seemed to get “show, don’t tell” backwards. The early few chapters when the MC starts traveling are mostly unnecessary. They didn’t develop character, plot, or even setting all that much. A summary of that journey would have just as effectively set up the main story. I don’t need to hear every word of a conversation from greetings to farewells, either.
I think I’d recommend this book to someone looking for a love story about people and times often overlooked by mainstream fiction, I just would have appreciated the story more if the editor had used a heavier hand.
Most of the characters are Black, some are white, a few are Hispanic and Indigenous, and the book is set in the western US during the Reconstruction …
I liked the story and the characters quite a lot, but I was put off by the writing. There were several parts where the author seemed to get “show, don’t tell” backwards. The early few chapters when the MC starts traveling are mostly unnecessary. They didn’t develop character, plot, or even setting all that much. A summary of that journey would have just as effectively set up the main story. I don’t need to hear every word of a conversation from greetings to farewells, either.
I think I’d recommend this book to someone looking for a love story about people and times often overlooked by mainstream fiction, I just would have appreciated the story more if the editor had used a heavier hand.
Most of the characters are Black, some are white, a few are Hispanic and Indigenous, and the book is set in the western US during the Reconstruction period right after the Civil War. The heroine is Black and the hero debates whether to keep passing as white or embrace being Black.
