I love that this is a book that focused on a queer, black love story in the 19th century. It is beautifully written but I don’t quite have the words to describe my overall thoughts on the book but basically it was not enjoyable enough or enough of a page turner for me to give this a 4 or 5 star read. I just didn’t have enough emotional connection to our characters, I literally cry in class while teaching the American and Australian Civil Rights Movement, and some really f***ed up stuff happens at the end and I didn’t even cry, which is frankly bizarre for me... I’m a big weeper, I weep constantly. I also still have questions about the point of the prophets, and the other biblical references throughout the book, as to me they didn’t seem necessary to the plot, added nothing really, and could have been omitted completely. The ending left me confused and still don’t know what to make of it all. I think an English uni course needs to pick this up and analyse it, then someone needs to take the course and explain it to me haha but if you’ve read it and understood it please come talk to me