Book Review: Island Queen by Vanessa Riley

 

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Thank you to NetGalley and WIlliam Morrow & Custom House for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: death, murder, violence, slavery, racism, misogyny, rape, incest.

Born in the mid-1700s, the daughter of a plantation owner and an enslaved woman, Dolly Thomas is exposed to the horrors of slavery throughout her childhood. Determined, ambitious, and full of charm, Dolly manages to pay for not only her own freedom, but the freedom of her mother and sister -- and ends up creating a life for them all that no one thinks possible for a woman of color in her time.

Reading the premise for this book was so exciting that I knew I had to request it. Not only do I love historical fiction, but I thought that it was so refreshing to see a book written by a black woman about an amazing black woman. Although Riley's writing style didn't immediately catch my attention, her weaving of the story certainly did. While much of the content in this book is extremely difficult to read, it's a necessary read, something that unveils the atrocity of slavery while also uplifting the voices of the enslaved.

Dolly is the star of this beautiful novel, and I cannot begin to even tell you how much she makes this worth reading. Riley's masterful characters, who are vividly, wonderfully captured, feel as real as if you are sitting in the room with them. It seems as if Dolly has taken you into her confidence, and is whispering into your ear with her snappish wit and her endless supply of magnetism. The tale of her life, her hardships, her wins and losses, is so captivating that at the end, I nearly found myself in tears.

I truly cannot recommend this highly enough. Riley is a prolific writer of historical fiction and romance, and although I hadn't previously heard of her, I will certainly be looking into reading more of her books in the future.