Review of These Colors Don’t Run by Andrew Galasetti
Born and raised on the Jersey Shore, Andrew Galasetti is the author of several books including “These Colors Don’t Run” and “To Breathe Free.” “These Colors Don’t Run” is the story of Samuel, an orphan and slave in 1830s Georgia who makes a decision that has a great reward—freedom—but which also comes at great costs. “To Breathe Free” continues the story of Samuel and his family many years later as they still strive “to breathe free”
Okay, so this little gem has been sitting patiently in our “To Review” queue for over twelve months! (Authors requesting reviews, please note that review times do vary) I was a little wary going in as I had put up all sorts of barriers in my head. Slavery is one of those issues that still disturbs me, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to “cope” with the book. Or whether or not, it was just going to be too “heavy” for me.
First up, this is a very SHORT book and is, therefore, in spite of the subject matter a very quick read. It is for the most part brilliantly written, apart from the ending, which I will come to in a bit. Galasetti’s characterization is amazing, and both Samuel and his partner Harriet, are incredibly believable. I did find that certain elements of the first part of the book disturbed me as the descriptions of the slave’s suffering is incredibly visual. However, the plot is fast-moving, and I ended up making time during the day yesterday to finish the book – instead of waiting for my usual nightly “kindle time.”
The curious thing about this book is that while it does link to “To Breathe Free” which I believe picks up on Samuel and his son and covers later years…I still felt that the author was whizzing through time and cramming what could easily have been a lengthy series, into a tiny novella. Don’t get me wrong, he pulls it off, but, I wanted more. More emotion with the big event scenes (which occurred chapter by chapter) I also thought that his “evil deed” was grossly underplayed throughout the book.
The ending: random and rushed are the only two words that I can come up with! It totally came out of nowhere, and (for me) didn’t fit with the rest of the characterization, which I have already said was brilliant up until this point. Without giving away any spoilers, I just don’t see why Samuel would do that! It had me scratching my head for a couple of hours after I had put my kindle away!
Overall, gripes aside, I would highly recommend this book!
You can find out more at: http://andrewgalasetti.com
