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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Graphic slavery violence: beatings, sexual violence, and execution; brutal throughout
Language
Some
Period language; not gratuitously harsh
Sexual Content
A lot
M/M love between the protagonists depicted with tenderness and some explicit content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
Dehumanization, betrayal from within a community under oppression, the spiritual cost of survival
What this book is about
Isaiah and Samuel are two enslaved young men on a Mississippi plantation who love each other quietly, tending the animals and finding in their bond a space of dignity. When Amos, an enslaved man who has bought into the enslaver's theology, identifies their relationship as a tool for breaking the community, their love becomes a target. Robert Jones Jr.'s lyrical, devastating novel situates Black queer love at the center of the antebellum South and refuses to let it be only tragedy.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
graphic slavery violence throughout
M/M sexual content
profound psychological and spiritual weight
Reader Verification
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