Black Cake Book Review

Which came first, The Black Cake Recipe or Sibling Rivalries? On Kyla's Reading Day, I discuss the fiction book, Black Cake. Charmaine Wilkerson wrote this book and African-American literature is the theme. So, the biggest twist to this book is characters, characters, characters. When I tell you, reading this book was like going to one of my aunt's or uncle's houses, sitting there and just letting them tell me stories about this is what happened to her, and then that happened to them, and then so-and-so did this, and this and I was like, "oh, the drama."

Not even the drama. All of the details of who was involved in everyone's life! I mean, Miss Charmaine, how did you get these stories? Do you have this vibrant imagination, or have you been writing these stories from your friends, family, or whoever? Where did you get all this level of detail? The book was exceptional. Exceptional! And I really loved learning about all of the different characters.

The book is centered around two siblings, Benny and Byron. They find a black cake in the freezer, and they unwrap this black cake, which is a huge Caribbean recipe. People are known for it. Of course, everyone has their deviation. But black cakes are a thing. It's a thing. When you have a big event, you have a black cake. And so they find the cake and start thinking about their memories and emotions tied to it. Then, they start thinking about their mother and their father and where they come from. Right. The brother, Byron, is an environmental scientist. So, of course, I love that. I went to law school and wanted to be an environmental lawyer. But you know, I'm here on YouTube making book reviews.

I really love that aspect of the story, and then you have the sister, and the family hasn't been able to figure her out. Still, when you discover the crux of why she's been making these different decisions, it's just like It was a beautiful story of families and how you can be around each other and see each other without knowing what's happening. And I went back to the Libby app to get a picture of the album cover, and I saw that they're turning this into a show or a miniseries. So I am over the moon.

I cannot wait to watch and see what the screenwriters do when they take this novel and how they try to transform it and present it on the screen. I'm really, really excited. So I'm not one of those book readers who cannot read an adaptation that's made to watch it and I'll watch it and be like, "oh that was different from the book" or "no, I didn't think that character would look like that" or "hmm, You know, I love all of it." So I'm excited to know they are adapting it into a show or movie series.

So why the characters of the book were so important to me was that it was so beautiful to see all of the different nuances of everyone's lives. It was like I opened up a journal and was reading about someone. Right. And I know that's how writing is supposed to be, especially fiction literature, but she did a really good job she did a really good job. Yes, I would reread the book, but I probably won't need to because I can just watch the show. However, if the show has characters that don't look anything like the way I would have expected them to look, then I'll go on and reread the book. So yeah, I have never had black cake. And I will tell you this: from reading the book, I definitely want to get my hands on a slice. I would love to try it and see if I enjoyed it. You know, think about the characters in this book while I'm eating it. Think about all the traditions and the heritage of black cake.

So, jump in the comments and let me know: are you the type of person who can watch an adapted movie or series that's made from a book? And let me know if you've had black cake. I'm really curious to know. In fact, I will find a recipe and make it after I try it.

Until the next blog,

Kyla