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Aria Jackson lived through the car crash that killed her father and brother when she was nine. At 25 she begins to unearth secrets about family, fr...
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Mar 10, 2010
Kim
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I liked The Untelling by Tayari Jones. Ariadne lost her father and baby sister in a car accident when she was 10. Her mother is unstable and cold toward Ariadne and her older sister afterward. Her sister, who has been a refuge for Ariadne, escapes the household by marrying her father's friend. All Ariadne wants is a normal family, and she thinks that's what she'll be getting when she tells her boyfriend that she is expecting his baby and he offers to marry her. This is a beautifully written
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May 14, 2011
Hafidha
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Heard about Tayari Jones from a few online friends, and picked up this book because I wanted to read some contemporary fiction by a black woman writer who is about my age (30s). I read up to page 36 or so and then put it down; the beginning was compelling, but I stopped at a point in which it was unclear what was going to happen next. I sat myself down with it about a week later and read the remaining 300 pages over the next 24 hours. Plot-wise, things move slowly and there are a lot of flashbac
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May 06, 2008
Hannah
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Seriously, don't judge this book by its cover (art). It doesn't look like much, but the prose is lush and the subject matter is fascinating, particularly for anyone dealing with reproductive endocrinology on a personal or professional level. I first heard excerpts from this book on a Humanities on Demand podcast (http://www.mainehumanities.org/podcasts/...).
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Feb 01, 2009
Erin
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Aria's life has been full of tragedy for as long as she can remember. As a child, she survived a car accident that claimed the lives of her father and her baby sister. As her father was trying to talk to her, she plugged her ears and pretended she couldn't hear him as he passed away...
A resident of Atlanta, Aria has dedicated her life to teach literacy to girls who may not otherwise gain an education. She lives in a rough part of town with her best friend Rochelle, which troubles More...
A resident of Atlanta, Aria has dedicated her life to teach literacy to girls who may not otherwise gain an education. She lives in a rough part of town with her best friend Rochelle, which troubles More...
Dec 04, 2008
C(h)ristine
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I had been wanting to read something by Tayari Jones. And so I found myself browsing through novel synopses, debating between her two books (the other is Leaving Atlanta); when I learned that The Untelling revolved around a character’s infertility, that was the clincher.
Infertility isn’t oft-talked about even in the realm of fiction, which seems to otherwise run rampant through the world of taboo. And so I read–the prose was silky, I was drawn in immediately into the characters. I More...
Infertility isn’t oft-talked about even in the realm of fiction, which seems to otherwise run rampant through the world of taboo. And so I read–the prose was silky, I was drawn in immediately into the characters. I More...
Jul 04, 2010
Theryn
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When Aria was not-quite 10, her family was in a car accident in which her father and baby sister died. Unsurprisingly, this tragedy has affected Aria enormously, and her relationships with her mother and her older sister continue to be strained. In the now of the story (mid-'90s), Aria is in post-university limbo. She's 25, living with her best friend Rochelle in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood, and teaching literacy to people studying for their GEDs. Rochelle is engaged and will soon move out.
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Aug 07, 2011
Amanda
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When Aria was a child, her family was ripped apart by a car accident that killed her father and baby sister. The rest of her adolescence was spent with an older sister who just wanted to get away and a disapproving mother who became progressively crazier as time passed. Now, as an adult, Aria lives in a drug-infested neighborhood in Atlanta, working in an outreach program for teen literacy. She wants nothing more than to marry and have a family. Everything seems to be headed that direction. She’
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Feb 10, 2008
Raquel
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Okay. So I've had some time to let the effects of having read this book wear off a bit. I feel that I'm ready to talk about it without revealing my soul here. Excuse me if I'm long-winded. This book connected some life-dots for me, so y'all bear with me.
I've never read a novel that caused me to do so much self-reflection that I actually had a breakthrough...like a real life breakthrough...like the kind you could get from therapy or something. Actually, I might feel less weird about More...
I've never read a novel that caused me to do so much self-reflection that I actually had a breakthrough...like a real life breakthrough...like the kind you could get from therapy or something. Actually, I might feel less weird about More...
Aug 19, 2011
Becky
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It was a treat to read a work of serious literary fiction by an African American woman author new to me. I pondered over the title and its possible multiple meanings and relationship to the myth of the labyrinth, then got thoroughly engrossed in the story of Ariadne, or Aria, who's dealing with a kind of arrested development dating back to the car accident that kills her father and baby sister when she is 11, in the book's prologue. Tayari Jones's characters are thoroughly believable, especial
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Aug 06, 2011
Lisa
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The introduction gripped me with its dense, beautiful prose and the power of the situation. If only the entire book had been as excellent. That lush language surfaces throughout the book but isn't consistent. A good read, but not a great one.
Apr 20, 2009
Danielle
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I was assigned this book in college but know I wasn't developed enough to really grasp it. The second time around I was really struck by how many people's experiences I will never relate to - it's disheartening but also enriching to hear.
Jul 07, 2011
Angela
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An interesting read, so far. I keep wanting to see the unfolding from a perspective other than that of the main protagonist, Ariadne, but that does not detract from the very unique relationships in her life.
May 30, 2010
Uzzie
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Good novel; content is good, but I think the writing is great. The novel explores how the past impacts our present choices in way in which we are not conscious, whether we tell it or "untell" it.
Dec 06, 2008
Donna
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Great book! I'm not a big fan of the vague endings which seem to be popular with modern books, but I'm getting more used to them and so they don't tick me off as much. ;) I really enjoyed this book.
Aug 10, 2011
Eileen
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Themes of loss and self-forgiveness, could be more fully developed. I appreciated seeing these themes through the African-American experience. I will read more of her.
Dec 26, 2011
Titilayo
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i really got caught up in this story. the hints towards the secret that needs to be told (or untold)set you up for the sesmic boom at the end. loved it.
Aug 26, 2009
Bridget
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Another Bldg 19 find. I read it so quicly. The storyline just really caught me.
Oct 09, 2011
Katrina
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This was another wonderful story by Tayari Jones. I just love her writing style, I always have a hard time putting her books down. I can't wait for her next book.
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Mar 09, 2010
Vanessa
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I liked this book up the end, and was not so nuts about it. Overall though, it's a pretty good read.
Oct 09, 2011
Malika
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Not the story I was expecting. I wanted to like Aria as a person, and I think she was a good shape of a character...but only a "shape." 336 pages and I still feel like I don't know her, and feel like only a portion of her story was told. Good storytelling, but feels very incomplete.
Apr 21, 2009
Ruth
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 16, 2008
Stephanie
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I was kind of disappointed in this book. I don't know what I expected but I guess I still somehow "expected" more. The story was flat. The writing was plain and I there really wasn't enough tension to keep me interested. I finished the book but just wasn't impressed by anything about it.
Jun 24, 2008
Abby
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This story was well thought out and the characters were revealed in a way that made them easy to relate to, I felt like I knew each character and they would do what the character did given the same circumstances.
Dec 21, 2007
Alicia
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A young Atlanta woman reflects on a car accident that changed her family forever as her adult life is also changing. Pretty good, but I didn't love the ending (though it was quite believable).
Jul 30, 2011
Latressa
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could not put it down. very compelling story of a complicated young woman and her family.
Nov 04, 2008
Smithb
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A very interesting book. I enjoyed it - hope to read more from this author.
