Yaa Gyasi's cover blurb really says it all: "Tender poetry, a love song to Black art and thought." What an absolutely beautiful love letter, what a gorgeous meditation on the challenge and struggle but also the irrepressible beauty and richness of Black culture.

I will say that if you're looking for a plot-heavy book where A Lot of Things Happen, this might not be the book for you. This is more of a close, intimate exploration of one individual's mindset and the way they move through the world around them, rather than being a novel that's driven by plot beats and the forward motion of a story. But if you're interested in that kind of introspective, deep character exploration, then I would absolutely recommend this book.

Maybe because the book is so short (only 160 pages!), this is a work where it feels like every single sentence is contributing equally to the story. As you read, you get not only an exploration of the artists and thinkers who shaped our narrator's worldview, but also this incredibly vivid, lush world that's build around him to the point where you can almost feel the heat of summer or the rain in winter and understand how those things contribute to the emotional state of the characters. 

All in all, this was an absolutely gorgeous read, a very quick one at that (at least for me) but one that didn't leave me wanting at all. Between the thoughtful character exploration and the vivid and skillful use of figurative and descriptive language throughout, I felt so connected to these characters and what they're going through, and overall absolutely loved this book.

One recommendation though: Read with a notebook and pen handy so you can write down all the names of musicians, artists, songs, books etc. that get mentioned!