This book takes place in Harlem, and in Tulsa during the massacre, and in Georgia where race problems were rampant. A jingou is a person so full of hate that they become a monster, usually white people and their hatred and aggression towards Black people. Quick reminder bitterroot is the formula or the medicine to charge to Jingou back in to a human. There are also multiple storylines and they’re all going to come together. Part of the thing that gets you lost is the time periods and the various dates. I am glad I did not have to wait a super long time between reading book one and book two because I would have been lost. That doesn’t make it bad it just makes it a little hard to follow. Bitter Root has truly great foundations in it, and I hope to see more, but I also hope it learns to take time with its storytelling and doesn't rush so headlong into a slam-bang conclusion.
For all of that to live off-stage while the present action is, frankly, not quite as interesting is a pretty big misstep. We know this family has an incredible history and has already lived through tremendous heroism and sorrow. The setting and characters are instantly and deeply compelling, but the entire story - both Volume 1 and 2 feels like the frantic final act of a much larger tale. There is so much to love in this thing, and strategically it's a narrative win, but tactically it's got issues. It's all wild and interesting stuff, taking place in an utterly compelling world that is very intentionally placed in the days following the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, and features characters for whom slavery is a living memory, and in a world where equality is both a distant dream and something still worth fighting for. Bitter Root is the story of the Sangerye family, a clan of Black monster-hunters in early 1920s Harlem who are dealing with a swiftly rising tide of hatred and sorrow that is corrupting people's souls and inviting devils in the shape of men into this world.
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