Cover Image: The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts

The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts

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Member Reviews

9% in the descriptions of a middle schooler’s sexual awakening was more than I was up for. Pretty hard no for me. Just not something I want to listen to in any detail.

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🕷️BOOK REVIEW 🕷️

Synopsis: Sisters Zora and Sasha Porter are drifting apart. Bearing witness to their father’s violence and their mother’s worsening illness, an unsettled Zora escapes into her journal, dreaming of being a writer, while Sasha discovers sex and chest binding, spending more time with her new girlfriend than at home.
But the sisters, like their parents, must come together to answer to something more ancient and powerful than they know—and reckon with a family secret buried in the past. A tale told from the perspective of a mischievous narrator, featuring the Rolling Calf who haunts butchers, Mama Dglo who lives in the ocean, a vain tiger, and an outsmarted snake, The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts is set in a world as alive and unpredictable as Helen Oyeyemi’s.

Review: wow, what an incredible way to kick off my reading month for March. This slow paced novel is a mix of character and plot based story, with incredible diversity and immense character growth. A mischievous narrator has you gripped from beginning to end, and there’s even a quiz in the middle (it was giving Nick Miller zombie novel crossword vibes 😅🤣) but made it truly unique. I loved the way transgender and non-binary characters were highlighted and represented throughout, and also interwoven with Trinidadian culture and customs. I highly recommend this book, it is the most unique novel I’ve ever read, and I simply must have a physical copy for my bookshelves.

My sincerest thanks to @allenandunwin @dreamscape_media and @netgalley for the copy of the audiobook in exchange for my review!

4.5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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Although the narrator was amazing, this was me trying to try something new, and it's not really the book for me. I kept getting lost, and some of the stories didn't make sense to me. But if you're a fan of this type of book, then you might enjoy it more. It just wasn't' the type of book for me. I will be looking for the narrator and see if they have done books in genres that are suited for me.

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This one goes on the list of debut novels that do not read like debuts. The use of language in this book was masterful and you could easily convince me that Soraya Palmer was a seasoned writer. Will definitely be picking up any future books from her.

There’s so much to this book. Beautiful language, as I mentioned, but also a fantastical blend of folklore, storytelling, contemporary and historical life, the lasting effects of colonialism on the Caribbean, poignant reflections on gender and sexuality, and a cast of vibrant, well fleshed-out characters that tie it all together. The narrative moves forwards and backwards simultaneously; as Beatrice’s two daughters grow up and grapple with their relationships to their parents, we also see more and more of the history that brought their parents to the United States and the traumas that shaped their adult lives.

I was lucky enough to get a review copy of the audiobook for this, and I cannot recommend it enough. The narrator added so much character to the story, and she had me laughing and crying at the same time on a ten hour road trip.

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A book like no other! This was a strong debut about sisters, family secrets, unusual animal characters. Perfect for fans of authors like Helen Oyeyemi and great on audio narrated by Jaimi Gray. I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this book but it's best to dive in being open to a bizarre experience. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

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I wasn't raised in a culture of myths and story telling, so this novel was more work for me. I found it difficult at times to tell when the story within the story began and ended. Still, I thought the writing was nice and I found myself more engaged with the characters as the book went on.

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For me, it is the seamless weaving of our orality and roundabout ways of telling stories and histories that make this such a worthwhile read. Palmer has paid homage to the wealth of history that our stories represent. Using this very fractured family where violence, resentment, communication and its lack, familial dysfunction, and sexual identity are their own little stories.
For Sasha and Zora, their home was always volatile. Even when stories were shared, there was that darkness that seemed ingrained in the essence; how the one who tells shapes it for their own purposes. Here, the interaction between mother and daughters and father and daughters shows a complicated dichotomy and how parental influence and actions recur through generations.
I love the way Palmer reimagined our folklore, using it to tackle and highlight issues that are widespread and all too prevalent in our communities. Reading Beatrice and her daughter's stories was both a reckoning and celebration of the intricacies of our history and homes.

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I wish this audiobook had an authentic Caribbean narrator. It was difficult to listen to especially the dialogue.

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For a debut novel, this book absolutely blew me away. I loved the writing style, the characters, and the details surrounding this story. I was really moved by Sasha and Zora and their life experiences. The grief and volatility of their home is something I can imagine a lot of readers will be able to relate to.

I also loved getting to read about the folklore that was woven throughout the story as well. I enjoy getting to learn about new cultures and their histories so this was a perfect read for that!

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This was a really interesting and beautiful exploration of what it means to be human when faced with tragedy. The narrative was split between the two sisters and showed their struggles with friends, sexuality and their parents all framed through stories of Anansi and other Jamaican folklore. The prose was lyrical without ever becoming too flowery and I thought the interactions between the sisters felt authentic throughout. A story about the power of stories is always welcome for me and this one was gorgeous.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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This book confused me so badly. I had to DNF at the 10% because I could not figure out what was going on or who the important characters were. I think this needs to be chalked up to a "its not you, its me" situation.

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This book wasn’t for me. I wanted to try something out of my norm and this sounded interesting to me. Unfortunately the story just didn’t interest me and didn’t flow like I would have wanted.

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This book unfortunately was not for me.It did not flow and I did not care for the narrator.
I couldn’t even make it to the end. I was sad because I was really looking forward to it.

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Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This is definitely one you need to focus on unless you want to end up confused! I would probably have been better off with a physical copy even though I liked the narrator. There's just too many side stories that got me distracted. I did enjoy the folklore though.

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This book just wasn't for me. I loved the idea and the concept. Following a family with Caribbean roots and weaving in traditional stories sounded phenomenal. In the beginning I really enjoyed the book. Towards the end though things were difficult to follow. The cross over between reality and magical-realism became difficult to follow and seemed to stop serving a purpose. For example, what was the point of being able to see all the spiders at the end? The audiobook was descent, although it felt like it still needed some polishing as there were noticeable parts where it seemed the audio had been pieced together.

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i either really like or am put off by this type of playful storytelling and in the case of this novel i'm more on the latter. while i do like narratives that are sly, self-aware, here i am finding the voices distracting.

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Sasha and Zora Porter are two sisters coming to age in Brooklyn. Not only do they have to deal with the normal teenage drama they also have to deal with the illness of their mother, the infidelity of their father and a host of family secrets intertwined with Caribbean folklore.
This story grabbed my attention and had me wondering just what Anansi would do next. I’ve always been a fan of folklore. Not to mention this story also did a great job of incorporating Caribbean culture, gender identity issues, and dysfunctional family relationships.

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Thanks #netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review. I kept trying to go back to finish this book but the folklore chapters were distracting. I listened to the audiobook and the narration was neither a distraction nor a positive addition.

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Format: audiobook ~ Narrator: Jaimi Gray
Content: 4 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

Zora and Sasha Porter are sisters from a Jamaican-Trinidadian family living in Brooklyn. They tell each other folk stories of their ancestors to forget family issues (father’s infidelity and mother’s illness). At a young age, they were very connected, but lately, they are slowly drifting apart. Sasha discovers chest binding, Zora writes in her journal, and wants to be a writer.

In between the story of the two sisters, there are several shorter folk stories and some from the past. These stories are interwoven with the main. Surreal elements often create a dreamlike story.

Sometimes, stories from the past are too long. You are thrown from the main story and can easily get confused.

The narration is fabulous! Jaimi Gray made this story come to life with all those accents. The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts is definitively one of those books for me that is way better in an audiobook form because the narrator did such a wonderful job.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

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I came across The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter And Other Essential Ghosts while researching books for my Book of The Month prediction videos. It was a book that I predicted would be a good selection for their box due to its exploration of familial bonds, exploration of Caribbean storytelling, and mix of real life and magical realism (although it wasn't one that ended up being picked). In reading and researching, it sounded like something I would enjoy and I added it to my To Read In The Future list. Then I came across a listing for the audiobook on Netgalley and figured it must be a sign.

This book is both similar and different from several books that I've previously read. In some ways, it reminds me of Maame, Black Cake, and a handful of other books. What's familiar is the exploration of a family and their immigration story. We see things through the perspective of the younger members of the family and not always from a place of understanding. Familial relations aren't always perfect and the parents don't always meet the needs or expectations of their children, but they try. We also come to understand all of the things the parents sacrificed to give their daughters the life they have.

Where this book is quite different to those that I've compared it to is in the elements of magical realism and folklore that are incorporated throughout this book. I loved hearing the different stories and how they blended into the reality that this family was living. I loved that the father was a major storyteller as it really helped me to understand him and the ways in which he views the world.

I also really loved learning a bit more about both Jamaican and Trinidadian culture. I've read a few books set in Jamaica or that explore Jamaican culture, but this was my first time reading a book about Trinidad and Tobago.

My only real critique of this book was that I did find that parts of it dragged a bit, particularly in the beginning. The book was a bit of a slow start and it took me awhile to fully engage in the things that are happening. I think that as the magical realism elements and self-identity discussions began to take place, I became much more invested in the book.

All in all, if you enjoy familial explorations, folklore, magical realism, and settings across the Caribbean and United States, you will likely enjoy this book. This was a very good debut and I expect that Soraya Palmer is a name you will be hearing more in the future.

As for the audiobook, I enjoyed the narrator and felt that everything was easily understandable. I am not the right person to judge the authenticity of the accents she did for the Caribbean characters, but to my untrained ears they sounded good and still quite understandable. I would definitely recommend the audiobook to anyone interested.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Soraya Palmer, and Dreamscape media for this audio-ARC. Reception of this ARC in no way affects the objectivity of my review.

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