Black Cake book review

Which came first, the Black Cake recipe or sibling rivalries? Keep reading to find out which came first and what book I'm talking about today. 

Hey, this is Kyla Denanyoh. Today we're talking about the book Black Cake. This book was written by Charmaine Wilkerson. The genre of the book is fiction. The theme of the book is African American fiction literature. 

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 what happened to her, then that happened to them, and then so and so did this and this. I was like, all the drama. Not even the drama. All the details involved in everyone's life, right? Miss Charmaine, if you haven't been writing these stories from your friends, family, or whoever, where did you get all this level of detail? Is your imagination truly this vast because 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 as they unwrap it, they discover it's a huge Caribbean recipe. People are known for it. Of course, everyone has their own 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 own memories and emotions tied to it. And then they start thinking about their mother, their father, and where they come from.

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. So, you know, but here I am on YouTube doing book reviews. I really love that aspect of the story, and then you have the sister, and the family really hasn't been able to figure her out. Still, when you find out the crux, the entire reason why she's been making these different decisions, it's like a beautiful story of families and how you can be around each other, see each other, and have no idea what's going on. 

I went back to the Libby app to get a picture of the album cover and saw that they're turning this into a show or a miniseries. So I am over the moon. I cannot wait to see what the screenwriters do when they take this novel and try to transform and present it on the screen. I'm really, really excited. So I'm not one of those book readers who cannot watch an adaptation that's made. I'll watch it and be like Oh, that was different from the book or I didn't think that character would look like that or Hmm. You know, I love all of it. So, I'm really excited to see that they are adapting it into a show or movie series. 

The characters in the book were essential to me because it was beautiful to see the different nuances of everyone's lives. It was like I opened up a journal and was reading about someone. And I know that's how writing is supposed to be, especially in fiction literature, but she did an excellent job. She did an excellent job, and it was portrayed via audiobook because a lot of things can be missed via audiobook. So I had a really good time reading this book, and yes, I would reread it, but I won't need to because I can just watch the show. However, if the show has characters who don't look anything like I expected, 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 enjoy 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. 

Until the next book review, Kyla