The ending changed my mind about the book. The entire time I was reading, it was so sad and almost unbearable to continue. It seemed her life was never going to see any sort of happiness. But the ending made my eyes water...in a good way. :)

Three and a half stars for this story of a woman stolen from her African village as a child and taken to America on a slave ship. Her harrowing journey takes her from South Carolina to New York, Nova Scotia, Sierra Leone and London, a broader experience than most accounts of slavery I have read. I enjoyed learning about new aspects, and Aminata was an engaging character. I found some parts a little slow, bogged down in detail, while others seemed scanty and rushed, but it was an enjoyable and interesting read.

This was a well written piece of historical fiction. A few stretches of the imagination were required to believe that the female character at the centre of it all could have done so well in terms of recognition by white and her own society, but at the same time, the fact that she did made it a more optimistic read than it otherwise would have been, and a lot of drastic misfortune happens to the young girl captured as a slave, as you might predict.
Many little details of real slave history were filled in by the historically accurate background and characters that our heroine meets, and the story is made personal and gripping by the strong affection the reader is taught to feel for Aminata.
Hill manages to write as a believable female character.

This book was a fantastic read. I enjoyed learning the historical side, disturbing as it may be. It was well written and quite absorbing.

One small aside, I would question the author's description of a blind man describing his blindness as neither darkness nor light. This doesn't seem to make much sense, for a person who previously had sight and still remembered it, as this character did. I cannot imagine it not being like darkness at least. But I will say it did still make me think.

The way many white people attempted a justification for the slave trade, ignoring certain factors and believing the denials of others, makes one think about other current issues. This book makes for excellent discussion.

Overall I enjoyed the book tremendously, and highly recommend it to all.

Wonderful piece of historical fiction about the slave trade in the 1700s.

Very powerful book following Aminata who is stolen from African and brought on a slave ship to the US in the 1700s. She is a remarkable girl and woman of strength and intelligence who endures multiple hardships.

Hill writes a very strong female lead well.