Mother of Pearl by melinda haynes

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Really, really good book. Had me from page 1 right up to the end. It did bog down just a little about 2/3 of the way through, but then picked up again at the end. Great characterization. Would highly recommend this book.

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Popka

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I loaned this book to my neighbor and she returned it unfinished. A day or two later I opened it and couldn’t believe how difficult it was to read. The writing was choppy and jagged and with names like Even and Valuable living in Petal - well, that threw me.
Once I got into the lingo it became slightly easier to follow but all in all it was not smooth or poetic. Was this deliberate?
Barely three stars. I think the story could have been cleaned up, about 100 pages shorter and still told a good story worth reading.

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gore_girl

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I’m honestly not sure how to rate this book. I found it fascinating but, due to its heavily tangential narrative, quite hard to follow. It felt like numerous short stories, each with its own life and characters, that made no sense together til the last chapters.
That said, I did like the ending.

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RMDv8tor

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

This novel isn’t obvious or in your face. The themes and conflict take some work to identify, but they’re there. I truly enjoyed each and every character and how they wove into one another’s lives. The text was enjoyably descriptive and full of well written dialogue. It’s worth the read for something a bit different.

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BaliX017

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I read this book for a project in Ms. Shakir's class. This book was a little bit difficult to follow at some points ,but ultimately it all came together very nicely. I admit, that yes, I indeed cried at the end, twice. Once because it was sad, and once because it was happy.
This story is about a white girl named Valuble Korner, a black man named Even Grade. This is a story about Love, morals, and tough choices. I highly recommend this book. A word of advice, this book tends to get very graphic so if you can't handle it, don't read it. My philosophy was, if its good enough for Oprah, it's good enough for me.

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eksratu

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

This book started out a little slow and I had trouble understanding who all the characters were and keeping them straight. After a while though, I was able to get them all straightened out and I became enraptured with the book and found it hard to put down. There were so many twists and turns. The author did a great job writing it so that I really was surprised by most of the events that happened and how they unfolded.

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OminousWrex

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I really enjoyed this book. Such great writing and a story that drew me in from the start. It takes you to the deep south in the U.S. in the 1950s with a cast of characters that felt like friends and family by the end of the book. I debated giving it 5 stars because it isn't quite as good as some of my favourite books with a 5 star rating, but at a solid 4.5 I decided to round up rather than down. This book is a treat to read. I highly recommend it.

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SailorCardKnight

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

What did I think of this book? Hm, It was good, I liked the story, I laughed aloud in some places and anxious in others. I really didn't care much for the writing style though. It didn't flow, it was hard to follow and it switched between first and third person narratives with no warning. Several times I had to go back and reread a paragraph or start a section over again just to figure out who was doing the talking or who was being talked about. The author not only confused me with the narratives, but also with the story line itself. This might not come across right, but I would feel totally lost with what was happening, then go back and reread to see if I had missed something only to realize that, NO, I had not missed anything - she just skipped the middle of a story. I'd be reading about an event going to take place, a conversation between two people or maybe just a thought someone was having and then two pages later I'd be reading about the aftermath of said conversation or event that was to take place with no idea of when it happened...it felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle only to find it already in place. Bad analogy? That being said, the story in and of itself goes like most novels do. There are, of course, exceptions. For example. I can't think of another story I've read in which a random character is added in the last 50 pages of the book. That was weird. But perhaps I am missing some literary symbolism because I really didn't see the point in doing that. At this point you may be asking yourself, "How on Earth did it get 4 stars?". Yeah, that was a tough call. I really wanted to give it 3 just because I was annoyed about being confused so many times and having to go back and reread, which i really don't like doing. BUT the story itself was really good once you can get into it and forgive it's faults. So, it does have it's redeeming qualities. I liked most of the characters, a couple were annoying, but that's ok because I don't want to like everybody. I liked how those characters have individual lives at first but though certain turns of events, whether they be natural disasters or manmade ones, become entwined and somewhat responsible for one another. I enjoyed reading about their personal demons and the symbolism it provided and how people dealt with and lived with their choices and the choices of other people. There is a love story to be found here too. Not just between two people or couples, but a different kind of love for everyone whose lives were involved. Love found in unexpected places, love that is lost, love that stretches the limits of the soul, love that is pure, love that redeems, love that destroys, and love that endures. There are lives lived in this book that are so unusual for the time period that I personally find it hard to believe, but hey, it's a story and anything is possible.
So there it is in a nutshell, without giving anything away. I hope you find it helpful.

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Mother of Pearl

melinda haynes

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melinda haynes

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