146. The Door of No Return

The Door of No Return. Kwame Alexander. 2022. 432 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: There was even a time...many seasons ago...when our people were the sole supplier of the purest and most valuable gold in the world...

Premise/plot: Set in the Asante Kingdom [modern day Ghana] circa 1860, The Door of No Return is a heart-crushing verse novel. Kofi Offin, our protagonist, is a boy--oh-so-close to being recognized as a man--whose world is about to be turned upside down. But before that--oh before that--readers are immersed completely in his world, in his village, in his family life. His family, his friends, his hopes and dreams. Everything is so fleshed-out; the world building is excellent; the characters are so fully human. If only the "before" had not been interrupted. But that is not his story. 

My thoughts: Heart-crushing is how I'd describe this one. It was bittersweet. The sweet comes early on in the novel. It was easy to get swept up in the story, to fall in love with the characters, to get HOOKED. I was so engaged with the characters that when the dreaded-horrible-tragic event occurs, it felt heart-crushing. It would have been sad if it had happened in chapter one or two. But coming when it did, it had more impact. In my humble opinion, it had more impact. Again, it would have been sad and tragic if it had happened chapter one, page one. But oh-my-heart, the fall was so much greater having been built up. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Obviously, it is well-written. Obviously, it is engaging, compelling. Obviously it is bitter-sweet, or BITTER-sweet. Obviously, I will want to read more, more, more when the story continues. But, it was so incredibly sad, upsetting, disturbing. His story NEEDS to be heard--obviously. But my heart needs cheering up. 

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews