Sing, Unburied, Sing

by Jesmyn Ward

With writing most often described as lyrical and lush, Ward's elegiac prose eases you gently into harsher truths. Having read Salvage the Bones, I was happy to see this new title offered on NetGalley, especially with that amazing cover. But despite the fact that I got the kindle version, I decided to listen to the audiobook, which added an AudioFile award to the many others this book has garnered, including the National Book Award for Fiction. This is a powerful, deeply moving story, combining the gritty underside of life with the ethereal world of those who have left but refuse to be forgotten. Compelling and truly a wonder, as you might expect.

For Goodreads:

Why I picked it — Because I loved Salvage the Bones.

Reminded me of… a couple of stories I've read recently had ghosts in the storyline, (Lincoln at the Bardo was one) but this was unlike any of those. Can't pigeonhole it.

For my full review — click here

Absolutely heartbreaking story of race, siblings, motherhood, addiction, death and those who speak to us after death. It ripped my heart out and made me cry for every child in this world living like Jojo and Kayla were. Essential but brutal read.

I rarely give a one word review but in this instance I have only one word for this uniquely written book: Sublime

I've always been intimidated by literature that revolves around the lives of black people! I couldn't get past a few pages in many, but I loved HomeGoing.
Here I am with mixed feeling about this one!
The book is about Leonie- a mother of two and a drug abuser. Her husband Micheal is imprisoned. Apart from this there are Leonie's parents and her dead brother and a dead boy who is a part of her father's past.
Leonie takes her kids along as she goes to bring her husband back after being released.
I loved the narrative! The writing is really the highlight of the book. I really enjoyed reading about Jojo, who's her son.
There are elements of magic that really make the book what it is!
However, what I really would've loved is more about her mother. More about their lives and I am slightly irked by the play of the whole black slavery in the story.
As already discussed in the previous posts, I feel some writers just add an angle of the slavery where it isn't even needed. The protagonists and their story itself is so powerful it doesn't need another added element.
Same goes here. As much as I really really liked the story and how everything comes together beautifully. I just wish it was more about them. About their lives alone and not being mixed with the past.
Overall, I really liked book! The writing and the way the Author brings to fore the magic, their beliefs and lives is heartbreakingly beautiful! If only more emphasis were laid on it!

This book is lyrical, devastating and has a wonderfully gothic quality to it that I was not expecting. It tells the story of Jojo and his mother, Leonie as they travel to collect his father, Michael from prison. The book is told in alternating viewpoints, which allows us to fully get to grips with each character. Given some her behaviour, Leonie is a particularly difficult character to sympathise with and yet Ward manages to make us do just that. There are some horrible things that happen throughout the narrative, but the prose is so lush and there is a detachment present in the voices that allow the reader to fully immerse themselves within the world, despite the horror. Ward never over explains anything and we are only shown snippets of the characters' lives, but these snippets are enough to infer a lot about their history and potential futures. Add to all of this, a supernatural element that was unexpected but very welcome, and for me, this is damn near a perfect book. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys beautiful prose, road narratives and the lyrical, lush and tragic history of the black south.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

hank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this novel by Jesamyn Ward.
I found myself with mixed emotions on this one. Was it a good novel, yes, but I believe it was told before.
The author’s prose and language was exquisite. Her storyline is what failed for me. The characters kept me on this roller coaster. At points they were wonderful to read about and at other times it was hard to get through to the next page. The plot was absent and I really wish it would have been better.
I loved the family aspect of this novel and that’s what made me keep reading. I just wish it had some more oomph.
I am most excited to read another novel from this same author because her language was wonderful.

What else can I say about this incredible novel that has won countless prizes - written by one of the most talented and topical American authors working today. Sing Unburied Sing was everything I thought it would be after reading Ward's previous work, and I look forward to whatever she does next.

I received a copy from the publisher for an unbiased review.
This is an easy review to write, though I'm not sure I can add more than what's already been written - the writing is gorgeous. I will read anything Ward publishes. Every character is complex and well-drawn and compelling. When it veered into the supernatural, I was a little skeptical, and I briefly missed the main characters we had been following. But by the end, it was so important to have introduced the ghosts. With everyone present in some of the last scenes, I once or twice lost track of who was saying some of the dialogue - but I just needed to slow down and not race through to get to the end. The subject matter is sometimes difficult to endure, but it's never introduced to shock.
Unequivocally recommend.

While I found this book gripping in the middle the ending was just not for me. It required me to suspend belief farther than I was able too.

Sing, Unburied, Sing is becoming a well-known novel for a very good reason. It hurts to read, and I think there’s something magical about that. I won’t be able to write a review that provides more insight or detail than those already on here. All I have to say is that it’s a very good book, but be careful to be in the right mind when you read it, as it won’t necessarily leave you feeling happy.

Sing, Unburied, Sing is a difficult, powerful, sad, heart-rending book with moments of beautiful affirmation. The title grabs me now that I've finished, leaving me with first one thought about its meaning, then another. This is my first experience reading a work from Ward and it will not be the last.

This story is set in Mississippi, as we meet 13 year old Jojo, his little sister Kayla, and his grandparents, Pop and Mam. Mam is slowly dying from cancer. Leonie, the children's mother, is a "sometimes" event in their lives. And their father is about to finish a prison term at Parchman. This is the lay of the land but there is so much more: the cost of drugs on people and families, continuing racial disparities and hatred, poverty, even the notorious Mississippi prison system, and the new nuclear families and old traditions.

It is such a powerful story, and what characters! I can feel the heat, see the animals in the yard, see not-Given looking at his sister in disappointment, or is it anger? The desperation is palpable. I wonder what will happen to these people I am becoming fond of in spite of their problems (Leonie), their absence from much of the story so far (Michael), and their occasional lack of reality (not-Given).

There is some hope in the end, but it is so complicated and confused with sadness, anger, guilt, an entire web of emotions wrapped around the family--living and dead. Ward's use of "second sight" for some of her characters made this story soar by further revealing old hurts, wounds, needs and an avenue of resolution for some. This introduction of second sight made the element of ghostly figures an honest move in the narrative. There is a streak of the other in this family from old times, now perhaps accentuated in Leonie by drugs, but Jojo, who has no part of drugs, still "sees."
This novel exists in more than the here and now. It lives in the past, the now and some hoped for future. And they, the unburied, do indeed sing, as you will learn if you read this book.

Perhaps my favorite of 2018 so far. Highly recommended.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through

The big buzz book this year is definitely Ward’s latest novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing! This was a MomAdvice book club selection this month so I was really looking forward to reading it. Sing, Unburied, Sing vividly tells the story of Mississippi’s past and present and shares some of America’s ugly truths that many are not aware of (including myself!).

This story is told in alternating viewpoints from a thirteen-year-old boy named Jojo, to his unstable mother Leonie, to the ghost of a dead inmate who carries some of these deep and awful truths from the South in haunting prose.

Ward does an excellent job sharing the story of the Parchman Farm (the state’s penitentiary) in heartbreaking and vivid detail through the voice of the prisoner. She also does an excellent job creating family dynamics, particularly, with his imperfect mother’s story.

I enjoyed this book, but struggled to connect with it, in the ways that I had hoped I would. I’m not sure if it was because I didn’t enjoy portions of it because of the narrators of the audiobook or if it is because I’ve been reading so many heart wrenching books like it and couldn’t connect because of that. That said, her writing is poetic and her words felt lavish for the characters they were portraying, not always fitting the voices of the mother & son.

I will say that I learned a lot though, particularly about the dark history of the Parchman Farm and the inmates that were housed there. As I gathered our questions for our discussion, I felt like I connected with the story more through the articles about those true stories and the interviews with Ward about her new novel and why she felt called to tell this story.

Overall, our readers really seemed to love this one! I definitely think it would be a good one to pick up, but would recommend this one as a book and to skip the audiobook.

An interesting read that jumps between various time periods and characters. I liked it less than the author's previous works as it felt like too many threads, but I really loved the family scenes, and how tight the main character was with his sister.

I turned the last page of this book and thought, “This is why I read.” I am overwhelmed. This book made me FEEL. It is raw and painful but at the same time beautifully poetic. It is an absolute "must read" and I am confident that it will be one of my top books for 2018.

Absolutely phenomenal book. Characters are well developed and the reader is enveloped in their story.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

This book is stunning. I have to pick up everything else Ward has written ASAP.

Beautiful and interesting, I found this book to be worth the hype and praise it’s recieved and difficult in the important ways. Very good read.

Ward's latest book will remain with you long after you have finished the last page. 13 year Jojo is a caring, sensitive boy who is being raised by his steadfast, loving African American grandparents in rural Mississipi. A product of his African American mother, Leonie, and white father, Michael, he tries to figure out the meaning of his life. When his mother packs up him and his young, devoted sister to pick up their father who is being released from prison, his life takes on a different meaning.
The book is immersed in surrealism and the mystical elements bring a sensitive and, at times, horrifying outcome to the problems of today. It's difficult to shake off the mood provoked by the actions in this book.