The writing is choppy and the stories lack any kind of cohesion. This book is absolutely awful, I do not recommend it

Suite as Sugar by Camille Hernández-Ramdwar - reviewed for issue 98 of Mslexia (out early June 2023)

Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar writes beautifully and is clearly very talented, however this short story collection fell short.

There were a few good ones in here but overall I found myself losing interest in most stories and the change in voice and tone didn’t allow for the reading experience to flow.

Her subject matter is really important and blends different cultures and traditions together in a way that is fascinating.

"Dey don't even know what a good wine is, throwing dey vəgina dong on de dutty pavement and trying to be Cardi X and Megan D Horse...seta lorseness".

I was eager to read "Suite as Sugar ahead of #ReadCaribbean month, namely because I love to feel close to the Caribbean without the heavy price tag of a flight, but also because I love a short
story collection. My two faves put together should normally equate to "MAGIC".

"Suite as Sugar" is a compilation of 14 short stories set between Canada, Cuba & Trinidad. These stories focus on various social issues such as; violent crime; homelessness; toxic masculinity; colonial-
ism; stigmatised & modern-day illnesses; homophobia within the Caribbean communities; animal neglect & abuse. All issues, are ones in which will feel familiar to us, regardless of our locality.

With such a vast range of topics being covered by Hernández, I had high hopes that this collection would be up there amongst my favourites after reading. BUT...

Asides from the above quote cracking me up, this has got to be one of the most underwhelming Caribbean short story collections that I have read thus far.

My main issue with the stories in this collection, was the lack of resolve for the characters. The characters in a nutshell, felt completely under developed, as did the plot for each story.

I love to feel connected to characters and their stories, but the stories in "Suite as Sugar", felt as though they were crafted for the sole intention of existing on a page somewhere. Ultimately (in my opinion), "Suite As Sugar" lacked purpose, it lacked direction, and it lacked the ability to execute the meaning, and context for these characters and their stories.

Thanks to @netgalley for my early copy, but not one for me on this occasion I'm afraid.

🌟🌟

This is a varied and diverse collection which challenged my perspective and explores themes of colonial legacy, diversity and representation. Overall I found it didn't quite hold together as much as I might have expected.

From Winnipeg winterscapes to Toronto’s condo culture, from Havana’s haunted streets to Trinidad’s calamitous environs, the stories in Suite as Sugar are permeated with the violence of colonial histories, personal and intimate, reflecting legacies of abandonment and loss. The veil between the living and the dead is obscured, chaos becomes panacea, and characters take drastic measures into their own hands.

Survivors of all kinds seek strategy and solace: a group of homeless people organize an occupation of vacant condos, a new resident to a disturbing neighbourhood tries to make sense of madness, a dog investigates the sudden disappearance of his owner. The five intertwined vignettes in the title story are set in a Caribbean country where the spectre of the sugar plantation haunts everyone. Tying this collection together is the casual brutality of our everyday lives, whether seen through the eyes of animal, spirit, or human being.

This author writes with warmth and engaging perception about our relationship and understanding…..

I went into this collection enjoying the first story, however I just couldn’t get along with any others. The dog narrative story was absolutely shocking but I’m not sure if it was in a good way because it was meant to be emotional or bad way because it is horrific

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the e arc

As with most short story collections, I connected with some of them but not all. I really enjoyed the writing and the characters though, even on the stories that didn’t fully pack a punch. Very nice.

I think what is hard with short stories is you don't always connect or engage with them and what is nice about this book was it dealt with some really punchy topics so you did connect. There was only a couple that I did not warm to which is often the case and nothing against the writer.

Nice change of a read for me

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers at Rare Machines for a chance to read “Suite as Sugar” as an eARC!

First, let me start the review with a disclaimer: I’m neither Canadian nor West Indian. While I’m from countries with Caribbean coasts (Mexico and Nicaragua), “Caribbean” is not the first word I’d use to describe my ethnic/national origin, which is the identity that this book deeply concerns itself with. This is clearly a book meant for intra-community conversation (deftly noted in “The Death of Caribana” chapter) and I’m humbled to get a small glimpse into the nuances of Caribbean-Canadian cultures and contradictions. Any readers - especially white reviewers not from this context - who do not understand that conceit truly missed the entire point of this book.

I am however a child of diaspora from histories of colonization, which is why the book resonated so much with me. “Suite as Sugar” on the surface has so many stories and vignettes that have little in common with each other, until one sits with the fact that that is exactly how places like the cultures of the Caribbean were born: bringing peoples that in theory have nothing to do with each other and seeing the meaning they create alongside each other, even if it is from a history of domination and violence.

Suite as Sugar uses the vignettes angle to get at the central point that there is no one definitive Caribbean perspective. We can only hope to hear from as many people (and even dogs, as demonstrated by “Yellow Dog Blues”) within as possible to understand how beautiful and complex being alive on any of the islands is.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. It is a book that deals with rampant sexual, emotional, physical, and systemic violence, and some vignettes are more successful than others in making a point beyond the bleakness of how normal cruelty can be in peoples’ lives. When done well, stories like “I’s the Man Lane” will stick with you for a long time especially as you see an speeding car cut off multiple people on the highway. When not so well, some of the stories end up feeling a little pointless, which undermines pacing and the book’s overall impact.

“Suite as Sugar” is clearly interested in the disconnect between academia and lived experiences of colonized peoples (“It’s Lit,” “Obfuscation,” and “The Death of the Caribana” in particular illustrate that conversation). It’s interested in how people learn to hurt others, why they continue, and how this pain transcends generations or even mortality (“Ghosts of la Rampa” and “How to Build a Saddis” come to mind).

At the same time it’s also a book that can get a little fat-phobic (the unhappy fates of folks in “Suite as Sugar” seem tied up to their fatness in a way that feels more exploitative than illuminating) and anti-vaxxer friendly (I’m looking at you, “Amberine”) in addition to how casual it can get with sexual violence in particular.

All in all, the book is a bit of a mess but I hope it inspires some important conversation, and provides more representation in the publishing world at large. Excited to see the discourse this book inspires, especially when celebrating the joy of ancestors past in “The Biggest Fête.”

Good effort on creating a book that embodied Caribbean culture by adapting the social and culture stories. The author also applied Caribbean dialect in the story and I believe Caribbean people will appreciate this well. For non-Caribbean, it can be a struggle to understand.

I would also love if it actually give more impact and depth to each story while there is one story that I really cared which was the stray dog in it.

Overall, it is a good debut story.

Suite as sugar is a collection of short stories dealing with heavy topics like homelessness and abandonment.

Each of the stories in this collection is pretty short - I believe the shortest is roughly 10 pages with the longest being about 24 or 25 pages. Despite the brevity of the stories, this isn't a book that can be read quickly. Each of the stories has a darkness to them which makes the reader have to take a break after each one. Additionally, I found the stories hard to connect with because they were so short. I believe that a few could have been cut from the book in order for others to be extended into more complete stories.

That being said, there were some nice pieces of prose scattered throughout the book which made for a more enjoyable reading experience. However, these were too far and few between for me to give it a better rating.

Thank you to NetGalley, Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar, and Dundurn press for this digital ARC!

In every seemingly nice story, there is a twist.

For example, in stories such as Yellow Dog Blues, an innocent dog, seen going through a typical, coming-of-age and homely domesticated life, goes through another path. A much stormier, more painful death-like stupor of a life. And not only in this story, if you expect a sugary holiday read for Christmas, the very first story, It’s Lit, tells otherwise. Contrary to its title, ‘lit’ in this context is more akin to burning and war rather than the nicer, more modern meaning of ‘lit’.

Overall, Suite as Sugar is a dark read for people who want a taste of the flip side of the coin of human nature. Rather than Christmas carols and new year resolutions, what about the regrets you make in the new year, the resolutions that were never resolved? Suite as Sugar gives that type of sadness. Its haunting, one-of-a-kind bundle of withered flowers and pages is bound to leave a special hole in your heart.

However, Hernádez-Ramdwar does make a bittersweet turnover for those who do want something warmer. There is a bittersweet tang to Yellow Dog Blues in which justice is made at the end of the story despite the countless tragedies the dog faces. Its unnamed protagonist gets what it earns, dignity, even if it is too late. This offers closure and happiness, however much sorrow there is in the book. This shows how even in darkness, there is light and vice versa. For the aspiring poets and storytellers, this book, which tells the truth of humankind, both good and bad, is the one for you. However, I suggest looking up the trigger warners before delving into this story because there are some gory scenes in certain short stories.

Suite as Sugar is not recommended for children under the age of 10 because they might not be old enough to appreciate this lively depiction of the gruesome beauty of mankind. Nonetheless, teenagers are welcome to crack open this gold mine of bittersweet stories however they want to. In the short span of a few hundred pages, Hernádez-Ramdwar has definitely captivated the essence of dark academia and reality in the conjoined limbo of a book spine and her ideas.

In a nutshell, in spite of Suite as Sugar’s often gruesome and depressing aspects about human nature and how it corrupts innocence, there is a light, a soft ring to remind us that there is light in the darkness. This is what is so special about Suite as Sugar. Instead of characters being dealt with constant trauma or a one-dimensional Disney fairy tale, this book tells both sides of the story. For adults, poets and many writers who desperately want something to inspire them to write beautiful yet bittersweet stories, Suite and Sugar is your go-to book. It may not be the happiest and purest carol to sing, but the lyrics do mean so much more.

Review by staff creative Angie.

There were a few stories here I really connected with, but I found there were just too many that I didn't. A number of them dealt with heavy subject matter in a way that left me feeling depressed after reading. It was difficult to connect with any of the characters and I found the inconsistencies in the narrative voice really hard to keep up with.
I think this could have done with losing a few stories in order to flesh out some of the stronger ones.

What a great collection of short stories! I like very much almost all of them.
The author has a degree in sociology and it shows. She is sensitive to social issues and each of her stories is about an important societal problem.
My only issue with these stories is that at times the author is using Caribbean slang and its accent, which for a person not familiar with these, makes it really hard to read, not to mention to understand. In fact, one story is written entirely in this specific style, and I had to give up after a few pages because I had no idea what I just read!
Nevertheless, Camille can write and she has something important to say. I can´t wait for more of her work to read!

I have mixed feelings when it comes to this book:some stories had me on the verge of tears and some failed to engage me.

Hernández-Ramdwar stuns with her writing skills in this debut collection of short stories. I appreciated a lot of the perspectives and language. A couple of these stories were absolute hits, but unfortunately most of them fell a little short for me.

*** Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press, Rare Machines for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Suite as Sugar is a stunning debut from author, Dr. Camille Hernández-Ramdwar. Throughout the collection, these short-stories are smart, self-aware, relevant, and funny at times (thinking of "The Death of Caribana" where the narrator is sitting in a Zoom meeting of well-meaning (?) event organizers and transcribing both what the other attendees are saying and her own internal monologue in response). The stories explore a number of topics from the unending cycle of poverty, to gentrification, many different varieties of trauma(s), familial memory, and more. The author has her Ph.D. in Sociology and to me that came through in the stories, as they are clever, thoughtful, and deliberate. Each one made me pause and think. As a reader, I really enjoyed the reading experience, as each story was so unique in its format and narration experience (e.g. one story is from the perspective of a dog), and while the stories were at times hit or miss, the hits were really spectacular ('The Biggest Fête' was beautiful; I re-read it several times through). The stories and the voice throughout were very much their own, but were at times reminiscent of Danielle Evans and Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and I would recommend to fans of either author.

i’m sad to say this one wasn’t for me. i don’t usually go for short stories because i tend to feel somewhat detached from the narrative due to their brief length, and that was exactly what happened here — i barely felt any sort of connection to these characters, and the topics were often just too much for me. in fact, i think i would have benefitted from knowing a bunch of the content warnings for what is depicted here, because i feel like i wouldn’t have picked it up at all if i had known what was coming. still, hernández-ramdwar is an undeniably skilled writer, and i liked some aspects to certain stories. but yes, it was sort of a disappointment on the whole.

4.5 I only knocked off the half point because I struggled with some of the slang and would have loved a glossary of terms.

Otherwise I really enjoyed thus collection of short stories. Camille Hernandez-Ramdhwar is (so the blurb says) multi-racial, multi-lingual, multicultural and trans-national. It certainly comes across in her writing. As does the thin line between corporeal and incorporeal worlds.

The stories move from Cuba to Canada to Trinidad giving the reader a flavour not only of the cultures and experiences had by the writers characters but also of historical changes in the countries. The prose is often quite poetic and lyrical. Not too much though. I'm not a huge fan of poetic prose.

My favourite was most definitely the title story "Suite as Sugar" which weaves several stories with one binding issue - sugar - in all its forms, guises and treachery.

Thoroughly enjoyed this collection. Its certainly like nothing I've ever read before.