Compelling story finished in one day.

heartbreaking honestly, ending had me in tears very well written

This book was sooooo heartbreaking. I cried and mourned over the senseless experiences of enslaved people. The author researched the experiences very well.

The mishandling of the male slave Essex being raped by the mistress in this book really killed the story. Female slave Pheby is secretly dating Essex. Essex is threatened and forced to have sex with the white mistress. He painfully confesses the string of sexual assaults to his girlfriend Pheby and she responds with rage, shaming, and blame toward him. It was a disgusting scene. Especially when the female main character Pheby should have known better: she had seen her mother being raped by the master and later her mother explained she had no choices but that everything she does is for her. Logically, that would give Pheby an understanding of how coercion and rape works on a plantation. Still, she had zero sympathy for Essex and narcissistically made herself the “betrayed” victim of the situation with zero consideration as he repeatedly explained how he was threatened. She says he’s dropped a lot on her and needs time then leaves him there. As the “heroine” of our story, it was very uninspiring and honestly unforgivable. Writing is decent but that scene was detrimental. It makes you not care for the main character at all which disconnects you from the story. Also, if you’re going to have sexual assault in your book, be careful what message you’re putting out and ask yourself: is this helpful to existing issues of today?

I thought this was a great book. I loved how it flowed. It was a great easy read that kept my attention.

Well written historical fiction novel. This is the second book I’ve read from this author and she is very talented.

Wow! I could not put this book down! Empowering and uplifting to hear the struggles and treatments and still she rose!

Absolutely riveting, but such sadness and suffering.

Truly heartbreaking

A rollercoaster ride of emotions, anxiousness, anger, disgust, and hope of freedom at any cost.