DNF’d at 55%

I’ve tried so hard and so many times to get into this book. I can’t put my finger on why but this just wasn’t for me

Ugh, I just realized I never reviewed this book that shouldn't be overlooked!
This was a compelling story about a Jamaican Armerican women who learns info that send her spiraling into her past. She unleashes answers to her repressed past.
Told in 3 equally good POVs from different places and times in her life. Good debut!

I had trouble putting down this book and neglected all others because I needed to find out what happened to Amaya!

I loved the way the author delivered this story: It was fast-paced in some instances and a really slow-burn revealing Amaya’s past. I was seriously making up all these scenarios on my mind that were very far from what actually happened…And I love this book for it!

I always feel funny saying a book with an adult protagonist is a coming of age story, but that’s truly what What Start Bad a Mornin’ is.
Amaya Lin works in her husband’s law firm as the bookkeeper, she’s also a mother to her 20 year old autistic son and the caregiver to her Aunt Marjorie, whom she had lived with in Jamaica as a child. Amaya has kept her past in the past, never liking to discuss her childhood with anyone. One day, while she and her son are helping to give out dinner at a homeless shelter a woman enters and Amaya is transported back to the past (in her head). This is the catalyst she needs to start truly looking at her past and trying to revive all of the memories she has suppressed throughout the years.
I really loved how this was written- it’s all first person and the transitions into Amaya’s memories are seamless. We are completely submerged into her past in Jamaica with her, complete with the Jamaican patois. The scene setting and description of everything from smells to the temperature was fantastic, really making it feel like we were right there beside Amaya.
This is Carol Mitchell’s debut novel and I can’t wait to see what else she has to give us.

It's amazing what the brain will do to protect the heart. I found this debut novel to be well-written, intriguing, and heartfelt. Carol Mitchell has created a powerful narrative with a steely heroine at its base. Well worth the read.

I am very confused with how this book ended. It feels like there are so many things left unresolved. If this was just supposed to be a story about the FMC getting her memory back, why introduce all these other subplots only to not finish them? Three stars because of my Jamaican Heritage

A beautiful book about the sense of self, family, and memory. Amaya, the protagonist, made a life for her self starting as an immigrant with having to leave everything she knew behind, and creating her successful new life. When things happen that make her challenge parts of her history, she goes through a journey exploring her past, trauma she repressed, which left me feeling nothing but empathy for her.

What Start Bad a Mornin' is a thoroughly enjoyable and deeply moving novel about a Jamaican-American woman facing the ghosts of her past.

Amaya Lin is a successful businesswoman, working at as an integral part of her husband's law practice. She is also a devoted mother to her neurodivergent adult son, Taiwo, and the primary caregiver to her elderly Aunt Marjorie, the woman who took her in when her parents passed away. Everything is going according to her life plan, including the major deal she and her husband are about to close at work... until a young woman claiming to be her sister shows up in her life, and derails it. Amaya must grapple with a past she cannot remember, and discover how to move forward with her life as the skeletons of her past are unearthed piece by piece.

I absolutely loved this novel. The POV switches between Amaya's present day life and her past in Jamaica and Trinidad. Mitchell beautifully transitions between the two, and each new memory unveiled was a gift to the reader. The final conclusion was equal parts heartwrenching and heartwarming. My only complaint - and it is hardly a complaint - is I would have gladly read more if the book had continued past the point at which it closed. I wanted more! But that's a happy feeling for a book to leave you with.

This was also my first read set - in part - in Jamaica. Mitchell did a great job of introducing readers to the political situation and climate of Jamaica in the time period, as well as representing the struggles of immigrants to America in a post-9-11 world.

I would highly recommend this book. It was a strong 5/5 for me, and I look forward to purchasing a copy for our library!

4 stars!

This was definitely an emotional rollercoaster!

What Start Bad a Mornin' is a story of trauma and how it can affect your whole life. I was so deeply connected with Amaya and had her back throughout the story. I loved how vivid the descriptions were and how easily I was drawn into Amaya's past.

I learned a lot from this book too, such as the vast diversity of the population in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago! It was refreshing to see how accents and dialects were incorporated into the dialogue.

I just wish it was longer. The shortness of the book meant that the book felt a little rushed, especially the ending. I feel as if we as readers really didn't get any closure, and did Amaya? I would have loved to see at least an epilogue of sorts?

Overall, it was a great read that I could really lose myself in.

Normally this type of book is my cup of tea but i struggled getting into it and i ended up not finishing it.

Amaya can't remember much of her life in Jamaica before she lost her parents and was raised by an Auntie. She is in America, married, and has a child when a woman calls her "sister" and she starts having little losses of time. Unlike many books I've read, instead of traveling from the Caribbean to America, this one goes backwards as Amaya tries to fill in the gaps of her memory. I liked that approach. I liked Amaya and the life she has in America and can feel the tension of her concern about uprooting it all by delving into her own past. The only thing I didn't really like was the abrupt ending. I would have liked 1 or 2 more chapters with her back home. Not that I want everything tied up in a ribbon, but having her start that process would have brought things full circle for me. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Round up to 3.5 stars

I was fully prepared to give this book a solid four stars. I really enjoyed the shifting narrative and how pieces of Amaya and Brian’s early life were revealed in flashbacks. I liked the mystery of Amaya’s past and that the reader has to be ok with being confused for a little while until answers start to come. However, the closer I got to the end, the more I worried that certain problems were going to be left unresolved, and unfortunately, I was correct. While the reader does learn the truth about Amaya’s family, every other problem is left hanging, seemingly for the reader to figure out. I would have much preferred to have more of a solid resolution to the story, rather than it just…ending. For this reason, it lost half a star for me.

What Start Bad a Morning is an intriguing page-turner. It's a transnational, family saga that readers of Black Cake are sure to enjoy.

It's giving, "Somethings going on and we need to get to the bottom of it" and get to the bottom of it we do!

Mitchell's writing style is light, easy and immersive. At times I found the book to be a little heavy on descriptive passages but otherwise, this was an enjoyable read!

I'll be looking for further work from the author.

Thank you Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for this ARC copy.

REVIEW
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
🇯🇲🇯🇲
I knew this book was going to be good when I read the synopsis. It was a very easy read, I kept on reading it steadily. At first, I was judgemental towards Amaya, but I understood her as I read the backstory behind her trauma. If that happened to me, I'd gladly forget it all and run away.
🇯🇲🇯🇲
This is the first book I'll be reading based in Jamaica, although it was set in 2003 and 1980s. I liked how the author portrayed the political situation in the 1980s. I also liked the Jamaican patois, but I was only able to understand it because it's similar to Nigerian's pidgin. I wished the author had explained the unfamiliar words.
🇯🇲🇯🇲
I liked how Amaya kept going back(in her memory) and how she returned to Jamaica to recover her forgotten memories. I didn't like the ending because I'm a sucker for an epilogue, and I didn't get one here. There were still some loose ends, and I'd have loved to see them tied
🇯🇲🇯🇲
This book is the author's adult debut, and she did a wonderful job, I recommend it!

An intriguing story about memory, family, and the lives of residents of the Caribbean. Amaya in 2003 is living in Virginia and struggling a bit with her neurodiverse son and auntie who has dementia when she's approached by a woman with a Jamaican accent who claims to be her sister. This then takes the reader on a journey through Amaya's life, from the early years in Jamaica that she does not remember to her time in Trinidad where she met her husband and then forward. No spoilers about her sister. Mitchell has real affection for her characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I read this ARC back in July and really enjoyed it. I can't believe it's already September and this gem comes out in a few weeks. Big up Caribbean authors!

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙰 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗' is Carol Mitchell's moving debut novel detailing the life of Amaya Lin, a Jamaican immigrant to Trinidad and eventually the US. Life is good, until one day a strange woman makes an impossible claim that triggers some repressed memories, shaking Amaya to her core and forcing her to do a deep dive into a past that she's tried to avoid for years.

The novel's three interwoven narratives take readers from the US back in time to Trinidad and Jamaica to help piece together Amaya's traumatic story and her fight for survival. Throughout 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙰 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗', Mitchell addresses the psychological impact of childhood trauma as well as the intersectionality of race, class, and gender, all while tying in the immigrant experience. With every new detail revealed, I became more and more engrossed in the authenticity and compelling nature of this book. This one is juicy, ya'll!

Amaya is a smart and resilient MC and her story ends (or begins? 👀) with a 💥bang💥 Even though I appreciated its final moments, I honestly wish we got a little more time with her and her family; so many questions left unanswered! I'm hoping that means there's a continuation of the craziness and that we get to see more of the Lin family and friends in the future. Lovers of immigrant stories, family drama, and Caribbean literature, you wont be able to put this one down!

Rating: 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲/5

Pub Day: September 19, 2023

Thank you to Carol Mitchell and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with this e-ARC via NetGalley!

*All opinions in this review are 100% my own*

This book will definitely get bought in person once it’s officially out. For some reason, I could not put this book down. The characters voice was so easy to fall into.

I loved this one! I thought that it was creative, clever, heartbreaking, and intriguing. Amaya is such h a strong FMC and this book kept me wanting more throughout. I found myself thinking about it when I wasn't reading it and unable to put it down when I was

💫 book review 💫

title: What Start Bad A Mornin’ by Carol Mitchell
genre: General Fiction (Adult)/Literary Fiction
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
pub day: 19th September 2023.

thanks to @netgalley the publishers and the author for this advance readers copy. 🥳🥳

"𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓫𝓪𝓭 𝓪 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷' 𝓬𝔂𝓪𝓷 𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓪 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷'."

"𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓷 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓹𝓾𝓽 𝓲𝓽 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓽𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯."

𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: i like that the writing was so easy to read. i believe this is something Caribbean authors have really mastered. the story telling was smooth. 👏👏 i loved how the author chipped in a lot of history and touched on diverse cultures.

however, the ending felt rushed, like the author wanted to just give it a good ending (we didn’t get any further update on some of the characters, Angela, Aunt Marjorie and even Brian). it felt incomplete, like though there could be more. what happens next? overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book! 🥳🥳

𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗯: Amaya Lin and her husband Brian Lin struggled to make ends meet after relocating from Trinidad to the United States. Amaya gives birth to her son, Taiwo, and 22 years later, despite having to care for her aunt who is suffering from dementia, things are going well for them. that's when the blackouts began - Amaya suddenly experiences blackout - as she struggles to piece together the puzzle of memories she suppressed 22 years ago.

cw: sibling separation, domestic violence, Alzheimer’s

the premise of this book is very intriguing - a commentary on the repression of trauma resulting in such severe memory loss that our main character is drawn back to her home in Jamaica to uncover the truth that she can no longer keep at bay. i was drawn into the storyline butttt

it fell short for me. there are some significant plot holes, a rushed ending and the characters are not well defined. i didn’t feel emotionally connected to anyone or anything. and the author engages with some negative stereotypes about drugs and people who use drugs as well as attempts to categorize people who commit crimes

if you’re into light, quick, page-turning reads, you’ll enjoy this!

thank you to @netgalley and @centralavenuepublishing for the advanced copy 🩵