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We Are a Haunting
Following three generations of East New Yorkers; a debut, coming-of-age novel that mixes magical realism and the Southern Gothic—for readers of Jesmyn Ward and Jamel Brinkley.
Taking place over thirty years, We Are a Haunting follows a family of East New Yorkers struggling to maintain a connection to their history. Grandma Audrey, herself a living ancestor among the speaking dead, is about to lose her apartment; her indelible and vivacious daughter Key dies young after serving the Black women of her neighborhood, leaving behind a grieving son, Colly, who holds deep-seated disdain for a community to which he has no choice but to be accountable.
Going back to the '80s, we see Key’s life consisting of nightclubs and enchantment. While training as a doula, she discovers that for her, the dead are much closer than expected and learns how to speak both to and for them, forming a connection between passed and living family members. After her death, Colly soon discovers that he shares the same sacred gift his mother had.
His expulsion from school forces Colly across town, where he forges an understanding of how friendship, family, and community foster love in places where it may seem inherently and systemically impossible. After college, Colly returns to East New York to work with community organizers addressing structural neglect and the crumbling NYCHA blocks; to do what he can for the people that mean the most to him.
With a singular combination of urban fiction, the supernatural, and social critique, Tyriek White depicts the palpable, breathing essence of outer borough New York City with lyricism and deep significance.
Taking place over thirty years, We Are a Haunting follows a family of East New Yorkers struggling to maintain a connection to their history. Grandma Audrey, herself a living ancestor among the speaking dead, is about to lose her apartment; her indelible and vivacious daughter Key dies young after serving the Black women of her neighborhood, leaving behind a grieving son, Colly, who holds deep-seated disdain for a community to which he has no choice but to be accountable.
Going back to the '80s, we see Key’s life consisting of nightclubs and enchantment. While training as a doula, she discovers that for her, the dead are much closer than expected and learns how to speak both to and for them, forming a connection between passed and living family members. After her death, Colly soon discovers that he shares the same sacred gift his mother had.
His expulsion from school forces Colly across town, where he forges an understanding of how friendship, family, and community foster love in places where it may seem inherently and systemically impossible. After college, Colly returns to East New York to work with community organizers addressing structural neglect and the crumbling NYCHA blocks; to do what he can for the people that mean the most to him.
With a singular combination of urban fiction, the supernatural, and social critique, Tyriek White depicts the palpable, breathing essence of outer borough New York City with lyricism and deep significance.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 25, 2023
117 people are currently reading
7585 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
May 1, 2023
We Are a Haunting is a lyrical literary debut with a sprinkling of magical realism.
It follows three generations of New Yorkers over thirty years. Grandma Audrey lives in Brooklyn and is on the verge of losing her apartment. Before she passed, her daughter Key could speak to the dead. Key’s son Colly grieves his mother’s death and learns he has a similar gift, all while navigating a world filled with injustices.
The writing in this debut novel is poetic. It’s more slice-of-life and focuses on moments of these characters’ lives. The timeline skips around with each pov.
It discusses a range of topics, including systemic issues and generational trauma.
At times, I struggled with this book’s lack of a plot. I normally prefer character-driven fiction, but this one meandered quite a bit and was difficult to follow.
Although, I can see this book resonating with many readers.
3.5 rounded up.
Thank you to Astra House for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
https://booksandwheels.com
It follows three generations of New Yorkers over thirty years. Grandma Audrey lives in Brooklyn and is on the verge of losing her apartment. Before she passed, her daughter Key could speak to the dead. Key’s son Colly grieves his mother’s death and learns he has a similar gift, all while navigating a world filled with injustices.
The writing in this debut novel is poetic. It’s more slice-of-life and focuses on moments of these characters’ lives. The timeline skips around with each pov.
It discusses a range of topics, including systemic issues and generational trauma.
At times, I struggled with this book’s lack of a plot. I normally prefer character-driven fiction, but this one meandered quite a bit and was difficult to follow.
Although, I can see this book resonating with many readers.
3.5 rounded up.
Thank you to Astra House for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
https://booksandwheels.com
February 28, 2023
“we are a haunting” is a story of a black family in brooklyn throughout several decades with a hint of magical realism. some of the women in this family are able to commune with the dead, but it is not a central part of this novel. each character has a very distinct voice and they feel very developed and fleshed out. brooklyn is shown in a very interesting way, it’s flaws at the forefront; rent control, gentrification, racism.
this novel is very poetic, and tyriek white would make a phenomenal poet. however, the poetic prose is a bit too much at times and the plot gets lost. almost nothing really happens, and the moments we are shown are a bit abstract and mundane.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!
this novel is very poetic, and tyriek white would make a phenomenal poet. however, the poetic prose is a bit too much at times and the plot gets lost. almost nothing really happens, and the moments we are shown are a bit abstract and mundane.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!
February 12, 2024
"Maybe we belonged here, in America, deserved nothing more than to be exiled to this far corner of the world. Halfway living and halfway dying. Even in death we are not part of this place. We are a haunting."
I thought I could simply dive into this book knowing little more about it than the fact that it won the 2023 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, but a few chapters in I had to stop and read the blurb to orient myself. From that point onward, I had a better understanding of who the characters were and how they related to each other.
This is a book that needs to be read slowly, allowing for time to soak up the lyricism of Tyriek White's writing. His descriptions of the city and the weather are particularly mesmerizing. I'm talking about "the sun bouncing off glass and metal" or the sky being "a creamy blue you'd want to scoop a spoonful out of" or the September rain making "the city slip from under your feet"; it all felt like something I'd never read before, and that artful language infuses the text throughout.
In terms of craft, this book wowed me, but in terms of story, I found myself wanting something with a clearer trajectory or narrative arc. Even so, the scenes concerning ghosts were haunting and beautiful, and I can see myself possibly picking this up again down the line and giving it another read.
Overall, a highly impressive debut. I'm keen to see what novel Tyriek White publishes next.
I thought I could simply dive into this book knowing little more about it than the fact that it won the 2023 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, but a few chapters in I had to stop and read the blurb to orient myself. From that point onward, I had a better understanding of who the characters were and how they related to each other.
This is a book that needs to be read slowly, allowing for time to soak up the lyricism of Tyriek White's writing. His descriptions of the city and the weather are particularly mesmerizing. I'm talking about "the sun bouncing off glass and metal" or the sky being "a creamy blue you'd want to scoop a spoonful out of" or the September rain making "the city slip from under your feet"; it all felt like something I'd never read before, and that artful language infuses the text throughout.
In terms of craft, this book wowed me, but in terms of story, I found myself wanting something with a clearer trajectory or narrative arc. Even so, the scenes concerning ghosts were haunting and beautiful, and I can see myself possibly picking this up again down the line and giving it another read.
Overall, a highly impressive debut. I'm keen to see what novel Tyriek White publishes next.
October 6, 2022
We Are A Haunting is a poetic song, like a siren that lured me into its world. Through the eyes of three generations of a black family living in New York City: Colly, Key, and Audrey, and the unraveling of their lives in a world rife with systemic racism, poverty, violence, grief, loss, readers are treated to a story that flows seamlessly between decades and generations.
White’s novel toggles forward and back in time. Characters float — as ghosts — between the past and the present. As the space between these three generations contracts and expands, the reader’s construction of time and history is reshaped, no longer a linear thing but a fluid matrix in which they live, all together, simultaneously at once. As a historian, We Are A Haunting reminds me that the past is never past, the present is merely a locus in history’s path.
The language which binds all these moments and spirits together is history, emotion, and experience: suffering and longing, obligations and promises kept or broken, strength and compromise, the ability to survive and a sense of defeat under the unwavering boot of poverty and racism. This is a complicated world in which awful events — such as getting fired and losing one’s income — is a nonevent warranting no reaction because of how useless it is to express emotion over it. This is just how life is. But, at the same time, such events are also gateways, paths that lead elsewhere, to better futures.
The interactions of the main characters with others in their lives: friends, fathers, husbands, children, and the dead or dying create the bonds which constitute the community and are the paths along which history travels. Each generation seeks to identify for themselves who they are and what they want, but they are also inevitably bound to the previous generation. Just as the living and the dead move seamlessly between their worlds in this novel, birth and death are a window that lets light in and keeps out the wind. Key, in her community, serves as a kind of gateway for life, possessing the ability to see things others cannot and in the capacity of a doula.
We Are A Haunting is not just about the black community itself, as an insular, discrete object in a vacuum. Then novel situates these black histories and experiences within the context of American material culture and history. Colly, Key, and Audrey and those around them are embedded in a world that has and continues to be assaulted by colonial institutions and racist systems. The deaths — those both metaphorical and physical — in We Are A Haunting are caused by this abuse and indifference. Casual micro-aggressions are tiny cuts and death is caused by a thousand of them.
This is a complex novel. For all its historical meaning, this is not a historical fiction in an informative sense; the time-bending, paranormal elements and the focus on characters’ and their emotional lives make this a more literary work than a historical narrative. This is not a novel that brings all its narrative arcs to happy, organic closures; un-repaired relationships, unfulfilled desires, and falsehoods are part of its characters’ lives. Morose, resentful endings are, after all, part of the colonial experience (at least from the perspective of the colonized.) In no way is this a detraction; this honest harshness is an authentic portrayal of racialized America.
The prose is literary. It is singularly focused on its characters more than its plot, though the unfolding of events lead to the characters’ interactions that shape their experiences. The characters are tangible, flawed, and powerfully written in each their own voices. Readers will have access to their interiority, but this is not an easy read in that the characters are — as real people are — guarded, afraid, unwilling to be vulnerable. Readers should not expect to be told what to think; this reader had to work to understand the motives and meanings of their conversation, their actions. The work, however, is worth it.
White’s novel toggles forward and back in time. Characters float — as ghosts — between the past and the present. As the space between these three generations contracts and expands, the reader’s construction of time and history is reshaped, no longer a linear thing but a fluid matrix in which they live, all together, simultaneously at once. As a historian, We Are A Haunting reminds me that the past is never past, the present is merely a locus in history’s path.
The language which binds all these moments and spirits together is history, emotion, and experience: suffering and longing, obligations and promises kept or broken, strength and compromise, the ability to survive and a sense of defeat under the unwavering boot of poverty and racism. This is a complicated world in which awful events — such as getting fired and losing one’s income — is a nonevent warranting no reaction because of how useless it is to express emotion over it. This is just how life is. But, at the same time, such events are also gateways, paths that lead elsewhere, to better futures.
The interactions of the main characters with others in their lives: friends, fathers, husbands, children, and the dead or dying create the bonds which constitute the community and are the paths along which history travels. Each generation seeks to identify for themselves who they are and what they want, but they are also inevitably bound to the previous generation. Just as the living and the dead move seamlessly between their worlds in this novel, birth and death are a window that lets light in and keeps out the wind. Key, in her community, serves as a kind of gateway for life, possessing the ability to see things others cannot and in the capacity of a doula.
We Are A Haunting is not just about the black community itself, as an insular, discrete object in a vacuum. Then novel situates these black histories and experiences within the context of American material culture and history. Colly, Key, and Audrey and those around them are embedded in a world that has and continues to be assaulted by colonial institutions and racist systems. The deaths — those both metaphorical and physical — in We Are A Haunting are caused by this abuse and indifference. Casual micro-aggressions are tiny cuts and death is caused by a thousand of them.
This is a complex novel. For all its historical meaning, this is not a historical fiction in an informative sense; the time-bending, paranormal elements and the focus on characters’ and their emotional lives make this a more literary work than a historical narrative. This is not a novel that brings all its narrative arcs to happy, organic closures; un-repaired relationships, unfulfilled desires, and falsehoods are part of its characters’ lives. Morose, resentful endings are, after all, part of the colonial experience (at least from the perspective of the colonized.) In no way is this a detraction; this honest harshness is an authentic portrayal of racialized America.
The prose is literary. It is singularly focused on its characters more than its plot, though the unfolding of events lead to the characters’ interactions that shape their experiences. The characters are tangible, flawed, and powerfully written in each their own voices. Readers will have access to their interiority, but this is not an easy read in that the characters are — as real people are — guarded, afraid, unwilling to be vulnerable. Readers should not expect to be told what to think; this reader had to work to understand the motives and meanings of their conversation, their actions. The work, however, is worth it.
January 22, 2024
While the writing of this book creates nice scenery, ultimately the story lacks a plot and direction and was often confusing for me.
February 27, 2024
We are a Haunting
Tyriek White
Out now from @astrahousebooks and winner of the @center4fiction first novel prize.
This book overflows with goodness. I read it in the last 48 hours to try and cram it in for @rootedinms book club, and I so wish I had given in a week to savor. This is one of those that belongs on the shelf right next to @jesmynward’s masterpieces, but still it does its own thing, new, inspired, fresh and alive.
With a pretty vast array of main and secondary characters, White layers the human aspect of New York City deeply with complex, realistic emotion—namely grief as Colly is grappling with the loss of his mother, Key.
Inventive in structure, the two timelines/narratives flash back and forth from Colly to Key, each detailing the experience of their lives, yet somehow reminiscent of a mysterious way in which they are conversing with each other. And perhaps they are—Colly realizes pretty soon in the book he has inherited a gift, or a curse, from his mother: the ability to speak to the dead.
This never feels copied or derived. One review I read said it best—it’s written in a way that it seems like it could happen to any of us. Of the novels I’ve read where someone can see or speak with ghosts or spirits, this is easily among the best and most convincing. It’s not magical… it’s just real.
On a sentence level, White shines best. Most of his words are simply effective and straightforward, communicating profound feelings tangibly, but when he really goes for it-MAN. Right when he has his novel hit its highest notes and he lets the sentences fill out in the lush, lyrical out-of-breath singsong he does so well, he truly soars with the best of them.
We Are a Haunting is one of those books that delicately explores the places we inhabit, the people we’re from, and the gossamer veil that separates us from both the past and each other.
Don’t miss it. But, don’t be like me and rush—give it the time it deserves.
Tyriek White
Out now from @astrahousebooks and winner of the @center4fiction first novel prize.
This book overflows with goodness. I read it in the last 48 hours to try and cram it in for @rootedinms book club, and I so wish I had given in a week to savor. This is one of those that belongs on the shelf right next to @jesmynward’s masterpieces, but still it does its own thing, new, inspired, fresh and alive.
With a pretty vast array of main and secondary characters, White layers the human aspect of New York City deeply with complex, realistic emotion—namely grief as Colly is grappling with the loss of his mother, Key.
Inventive in structure, the two timelines/narratives flash back and forth from Colly to Key, each detailing the experience of their lives, yet somehow reminiscent of a mysterious way in which they are conversing with each other. And perhaps they are—Colly realizes pretty soon in the book he has inherited a gift, or a curse, from his mother: the ability to speak to the dead.
This never feels copied or derived. One review I read said it best—it’s written in a way that it seems like it could happen to any of us. Of the novels I’ve read where someone can see or speak with ghosts or spirits, this is easily among the best and most convincing. It’s not magical… it’s just real.
On a sentence level, White shines best. Most of his words are simply effective and straightforward, communicating profound feelings tangibly, but when he really goes for it-MAN. Right when he has his novel hit its highest notes and he lets the sentences fill out in the lush, lyrical out-of-breath singsong he does so well, he truly soars with the best of them.
We Are a Haunting is one of those books that delicately explores the places we inhabit, the people we’re from, and the gossamer veil that separates us from both the past and each other.
Don’t miss it. But, don’t be like me and rush—give it the time it deserves.
January 24, 2023
We Are a Haunting by Tyriek White is exactly what author Kiese Laymon says it says: So New York while paying homage to the South. What a stellar debut for Tyriek White! I am truly looking forward to reading more from this author after enjoying this supernatural family saga ripe with magical realism and social commentary about growing up Black & poor in America.
We Are a Haunting is set in 1980s East New York (Brooklyn) and tells a multi-generational story that starts with a young, Black doula named Key. Key, just like her mother, Audrey, has the spiritual gift of being able to speak to and for the dead. This is a gift, or a curse, depending on how you consider it, she passes down to her son, Colly. Told with intersecting narratives we follow the journey of Key and Colly from past to present. We journey with Key as she falls in love with her future husband and drug dealer, Dante and we follow Colly as he gets expelled from school and navigates his spiritual gifts while trying not to lose his mind. Colly's perspective is often told in the second person in conversation with the spirit of his mother whose presence is with him throughout the narrative. The presence of spirit guides is the foundation of the powerful novel- both seen and unseen forces.
When Colly returns to his neighborhood from college he finds the NYCHA project he grew up in in deteriorating condition. I love that the end of the narrative starts with reclamation and salvaging the parts of what remains. This is truly a poetic novel with layer upon layer of meaning. Each character, each encounter has something special to teach us and as a reader that truly felt like a treat.
Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!
We Are a Haunting is set in 1980s East New York (Brooklyn) and tells a multi-generational story that starts with a young, Black doula named Key. Key, just like her mother, Audrey, has the spiritual gift of being able to speak to and for the dead. This is a gift, or a curse, depending on how you consider it, she passes down to her son, Colly. Told with intersecting narratives we follow the journey of Key and Colly from past to present. We journey with Key as she falls in love with her future husband and drug dealer, Dante and we follow Colly as he gets expelled from school and navigates his spiritual gifts while trying not to lose his mind. Colly's perspective is often told in the second person in conversation with the spirit of his mother whose presence is with him throughout the narrative. The presence of spirit guides is the foundation of the powerful novel- both seen and unseen forces.
When Colly returns to his neighborhood from college he finds the NYCHA project he grew up in in deteriorating condition. I love that the end of the narrative starts with reclamation and salvaging the parts of what remains. This is truly a poetic novel with layer upon layer of meaning. Each character, each encounter has something special to teach us and as a reader that truly felt like a treat.
Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!
February 28, 2025
We Are A Haunting looks at three generations of a Black family in NYC, all of whom experience the break between the living and the dead as blurred. Audrey is the grandmother. Key is her daughter, particularly challenged by the line between the living and dead in her work as a doula. Colly is Key's son, a teen when Key dies. This is not linear storytelling, but it does have a trajectory, most notably how Colly learns to live with this family trait and how he sorts out the relationships in his family. White is a lyrical writer and his prose is beautiful. He really excels at creating a rich, dynamic sense of place. He doesn't shy away from the difficulties of poverty - but there is also a tremendous sense of connection and community. The novel got off to a bit of a slow start for me, but once I got into the story I enjoyed the experience.
April 16, 2023
Felt some kind of way about finishing this novel in New York City. I’m incredibly cheesy in that way, I suppose.
March 10, 2024
This was really beautifully written and really well thought out with so many interesting symbols and themes threaded throughout. Ultimately it read more like a 3 star for me because it was a little bit challenging to get though, but for someone who is a little better at literary interpretation it’s probably a 5 star.
August 24, 2025
It was well written and I loved the historical fiction of it but it just didn’t hold my attention
June 2, 2023
This is a multi-generational family saga centered in NYC (with references to the Islands and beyond) and examines the Black experience as they navigate life and death amid the challenges of impoverished inner-city living. The central characters are grandmother, Audrey, her daughter, Key, and her son, Colly – however, the novel is buoyed by colorful neighborhood characters to build a very insular community – and essentially, this community is like a character itself as it suffers too as it falls into dereliction.
Trauma, despair and grief weigh heavy on characters and while we witness Colly grapple with the loss of his mother, we learn of pain and hardship of his ancestors and others – Generational trauma is prevalent and seemingly perpetual; the novel delves into the many ways he and others attempt to cope.
Although magical realism is used to convey the stories of the ancestors via seances and premonitions, the characters’ experiences, observations, and reactions are grounded in reality. The characters are marginalized people pushed to the outer edges of society through no fault of their own. They have limited tools, agency, and resources and are on the cusp of despair - yet they persevere and endure.
This is a character-driven novel and while beautifully written (the lyrical prose, choice of musical references, historical references, and scene setting are stellar), it seemed a bit disjointed at times which disrupted the cadence of the story(ies). Sadly, I found myself vested in only a few characters initially, but as I continued to read, my interest waned – it may be a personal shortcoming of mine; others may remain vested.
Thanks to Astra House and NetGalley for the opportunity to review.
Trauma, despair and grief weigh heavy on characters and while we witness Colly grapple with the loss of his mother, we learn of pain and hardship of his ancestors and others – Generational trauma is prevalent and seemingly perpetual; the novel delves into the many ways he and others attempt to cope.
Although magical realism is used to convey the stories of the ancestors via seances and premonitions, the characters’ experiences, observations, and reactions are grounded in reality. The characters are marginalized people pushed to the outer edges of society through no fault of their own. They have limited tools, agency, and resources and are on the cusp of despair - yet they persevere and endure.
This is a character-driven novel and while beautifully written (the lyrical prose, choice of musical references, historical references, and scene setting are stellar), it seemed a bit disjointed at times which disrupted the cadence of the story(ies). Sadly, I found myself vested in only a few characters initially, but as I continued to read, my interest waned – it may be a personal shortcoming of mine; others may remain vested.
Thanks to Astra House and NetGalley for the opportunity to review.
February 4, 2024
An NYC-raised mother and son have the ability to interact with the spirits of their neighborhood, as it gets harder and harder to live in their world.
I hate when this happens, but wrong book at the wrong time for me. I was so easily distracted. I can tell you that beautiful or pretentious, the entire thing is verbose so it was easy for me to mentally do taxes.
I hate when this happens, but wrong book at the wrong time for me. I was so easily distracted. I can tell you that beautiful or pretentious, the entire thing is verbose so it was easy for me to mentally do taxes.
May 30, 2023
The prose in this book is so beautiful, to me it was reminiscent of junot Diaz or tommy orange. I loved the concept and just wished that the magical elements of the first hundred pages were explored more in the second half.
January 10, 2023
Once I fully got into this book I found the story compelling, but it took a while for me to find my grip on the story. The story is told in different times by different characters but the style in which it is written made it difficult for me to keep up with who I was reading about and when. The grip I had on the story was lost by the time I passed through the middle of it. I feel that this novel could use some editing, because the characters are compelling but it was hard to keep track of what was going on.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
May 9, 2023
This is a stunning debut. The prose is just beautiful, with some passages that stopped me in my tracks so I could sit with the weight of them. Loved this story about family, grief, ghosts, and community.
October 20, 2024
I'm really surprised at how little I liked this. The premise sounded and extremely up my ally and the writing, at a sentence by sentence level, is consistently strong and occasionally even stellar. But the narrative structure was just a mess for me, to the point where I never found my footing or had a clear idea of trajectory or direction. Staying steeped in that sort of aimlessness eventually led to me just totally losing interest and investment. Maybe it was bad timing -- I've read a recent spree of books told with alternating narrators and jumbled timelines and I seem to enjoy each one less than the prior. I'd probably give whatever White writes next a try, so two stars feels a little harsh, but I just didn't care or even follow enough of this to give more.
June 8, 2024
Me gustó mucho, pero tengo mucha flojera de reseñarlo porque pasan demasiadas cosas y a la vez no pasa nada. O sea, son treinta años, tres generaciones, de una familia muy particular, que ven a los muertos y todo. Pero a la vez no hay en sí una trama, lo que está también muy bien.
Amé que nos habla del barrio popular en Brooklyn, pero también sobre cómo ese mundo se cruza constantemente con otros, como el de la política y de pronto hasta nos encontramos en el MET.
Excelente escritura, poético y brutal.
Amé que nos habla del barrio popular en Brooklyn, pero también sobre cómo ese mundo se cruza constantemente con otros, como el de la política y de pronto hasta nos encontramos en el MET.
Excelente escritura, poético y brutal.
August 19, 2024
I reallllyyy wanted to love this book. It reminded me of Sing Unburied Sing meets A Visit From the Goon Squad. But the way this book jumped between points of view and points in time made it difficult for me to connect with any of the characters. :/
June 8, 2023
3.5 stars
August 31, 2023
very lyrical & poetic, the plot gets lost a bit (esp in the last part) but the beauty of the writing compensated for this imo
May 4, 2024
Loved the writing and absolutely loved Colly. This started a little slow for me, I had a hard time getting into it at first but I liked the second part a lot and loved the third part.
March 10, 2024
5 ☆ for writing which was so beautiful I could see feel and hear everything that was described
2☆ for continuity and plot development-- a fair portion of the time I couldn't keep track of which character was narrating or how one paragraph connected to the next.
2☆ for continuity and plot development-- a fair portion of the time I couldn't keep track of which character was narrating or how one paragraph connected to the next.
May 16, 2023
I enjoyed this even though the structure did at times affect how I experienced it.
April 4, 2023
OMG. April has given me so many 5-star reads, and I am LIVING for it.
I am SO thankful to Tyriek White and all of the lovely people at Astra House Publishing for sending me this gorgeous advanced copy of We Are a Haunting, which details one family's trials and decades of generational trauma that gets experienced by all. There's an inherited gift, passed down to descendants, where certain members can see the ghosts of dead loved ones in both a foreshadowing manner and as a fright that does little to communicate a message.
We hear from both Key in the 80s and early 90s as she understands what her ancestors are trying to tell her, decoding their pain and working not to spread it to her offspring. We also hear from Colly, Key's son, who struggles to understand why he's seeing the ghost of his cancer-riddled, deceased mother and how he can grieve in a way that helps him grow and move on in life.
Tyriek White's linguistic appeal is jaw-dropping and mystical all in one book, and kept me eager for me after every page of this broken family drama. We Are a Haunting is set to publish on April 25, 2023, and I can't wait for more of my pals to get ahold of this magical piece of art.
I am SO thankful to Tyriek White and all of the lovely people at Astra House Publishing for sending me this gorgeous advanced copy of We Are a Haunting, which details one family's trials and decades of generational trauma that gets experienced by all. There's an inherited gift, passed down to descendants, where certain members can see the ghosts of dead loved ones in both a foreshadowing manner and as a fright that does little to communicate a message.
We hear from both Key in the 80s and early 90s as she understands what her ancestors are trying to tell her, decoding their pain and working not to spread it to her offspring. We also hear from Colly, Key's son, who struggles to understand why he's seeing the ghost of his cancer-riddled, deceased mother and how he can grieve in a way that helps him grow and move on in life.
Tyriek White's linguistic appeal is jaw-dropping and mystical all in one book, and kept me eager for me after every page of this broken family drama. We Are a Haunting is set to publish on April 25, 2023, and I can't wait for more of my pals to get ahold of this magical piece of art.
July 30, 2024
A Flat 3. This book had me bored in way that makes no sense..
I initially set this book down with the intention of returning to finish it later. Now, I feel I should’ve never picked it back up. This isn’t to say the book lacks interesting prose or well-written characters. Despite some strengths, the narrative felt stagnant, as though nothing was actually happening.
The story follows a family through multiple POVs across generations, with some characters possessing the capability to talk to the dead. This premise should have made for a captivating read, yet it felt like the potential of the spiritual and cultural connections was not fully realized. The characters seemed to hold back, and we didn’t experience these connections in a way that was as engaging as it could have been.
This book examines grief, loss, and how family stays with you, showing how our connections to others can better us and extend out to the communities we serve. The narrative further opens the discussion of the gifts or traumas passed down to us. However, the poetic style wasn’t enough to sustain my interest throughout the book. While I can see White excelling in the poetry space and would be interested in reading more from him, I wouldn’t invest in another generational tale of his.
While other readers may feel engulfed in emotion and curiosity, for me finishing this book felt like a chore.
I initially set this book down with the intention of returning to finish it later. Now, I feel I should’ve never picked it back up. This isn’t to say the book lacks interesting prose or well-written characters. Despite some strengths, the narrative felt stagnant, as though nothing was actually happening.
The story follows a family through multiple POVs across generations, with some characters possessing the capability to talk to the dead. This premise should have made for a captivating read, yet it felt like the potential of the spiritual and cultural connections was not fully realized. The characters seemed to hold back, and we didn’t experience these connections in a way that was as engaging as it could have been.
This book examines grief, loss, and how family stays with you, showing how our connections to others can better us and extend out to the communities we serve. The narrative further opens the discussion of the gifts or traumas passed down to us. However, the poetic style wasn’t enough to sustain my interest throughout the book. While I can see White excelling in the poetry space and would be interested in reading more from him, I wouldn’t invest in another generational tale of his.
While other readers may feel engulfed in emotion and curiosity, for me finishing this book felt like a chore.
January 5, 2023
At times brilliant, and in the middle sections of the book thoroughly engrossing, but the lives that are created are messy and that bleeds into the structure of the book. Unfortunately it’s not successful enough to be taken as intentional so what is left feels like it needs editing. The book needs to either be much longer to investigate the elements of the characters’ lives that are mentioned but not fleshed out or shorter in order to focus on the parts that ring true. Most of the third section is tedious because it doesn’t go anywhere. It’s the shortest part of the book but the least interesting to read. I so wanted to love this book and I did the first 200 pages, but those last 50 not only lost it a star, but lost my interest in the characters who had been so fully realized earlier.
June 23, 2024
seriously such amazing writing in this !!! it captures both the spirit of NYC + the experiences of generational trauma in a really refreshing light. i think there’s a lot to unpack with this one & the complexity of all its characters. would really love to read anything else by this author
July 3, 2024
Like the ghosts in his novel, Tyriek White's We Are a Haunting had been an omnipresent force in my "Currently Reading" tab for what seemed like generations. I had cracked this one open back when I purchased it over a year ago, made it through the prologue, then set it aside once I realized that it would require a bit more from me than I was willing to give at the time.
Fast forward a few months to my second attempt. I made it a few chapters in and, noticing that the unconventional language from the prologue wasn't going to let up any time soon, I walked away from it, vowing to return when I was able to give it my full attention.
Finally summer came, and all the time in the world came with it. We Are a Haunting and I met in my library at high noon. I, battle scarred but no worse for wear; it, with the front cover flap neatly folded where I had left it, smug as a shrug. This time, however, I read the shit out of this book, knocking it out in about two days.
And that's my main issue with We Are a Haunting: it's not easy to access. Normally, I don't like to blame a novel for this. I hate it when reviewers use words like "bloated" and "pretentious" to describe an author's writing, particularly if their only beef with it is that it gave them a hard time. In most cases, that's a reader problems. But, there are two ends to the spectrum here, and if I'm willing to fault a novel for writing that is generic and bland, I think it's possible for an author to take it too far in the opposing direction at the cost of readability.
There are plenty of moments where White's writing style feels appropriate for his purposes, and these moments are some of the best I've read in recent memory. White's poetic flourishes and distinctive turns of phrase provide a lens through which we can view his setting, this Brooklyn neighborhood with all of its neglect and abandonment, through the eyes of those who call it their home. Or when we're transported into the magical dreamscapes between life and death, with the two main characters who can communicate with those who have passed, we become fittingly disconcerted by White's language, feeling both the presence and absence of those wandering souls at the stygian river. It's during these instances that White, through form and content, reaches art.
Beef begins simmering, though, when 90% of the novel (a made-up number) is written like this, and it begins to affect pace and mood and tone during moments that feel like they require the no-nonsense dirt and grime of realism. There's no reason to force readers into the dizzying heights of poesy when you're depicting a playground scuffle, for example; and if there is a reason for it, whatever that reason is is overshadowed by the sense of unnecessary literary acrobatics -- of showing off simply because you can.
Now, lemme step down off my soapbox cause I wasn't even trying to do all that. The majority of We Are a Haunting is really really good. To say that the novel lacks a plot is akin to saying that the "Mona Lisa" lacks movement. It's definitely there, but it's so subtle you could miss it. It's at once a snapshot of America and a testament to a people whose strength is drawn up from their roots. The themes of community, the importance of oneness through hardship, are skillfully conveyed through setting and characterization, as is protagonist Colly's aimlessness as he deals with the death of his mother, Key, while searching for purpose in a place where all roads lead nowhere. White has an almost intuitive understanding of the people he writes about, and he does for New York what Daniel Mason did for North Woods, drawing me so completely into his world that I felt a part of it.
But as much as I'm interested in seeing what Tyriek White produces next, I'm not sure I have it in me to engage in it unless he tempers his style somewhat. This one nearly kicked my ass.
Fast forward a few months to my second attempt. I made it a few chapters in and, noticing that the unconventional language from the prologue wasn't going to let up any time soon, I walked away from it, vowing to return when I was able to give it my full attention.
Finally summer came, and all the time in the world came with it. We Are a Haunting and I met in my library at high noon. I, battle scarred but no worse for wear; it, with the front cover flap neatly folded where I had left it, smug as a shrug. This time, however, I read the shit out of this book, knocking it out in about two days.
And that's my main issue with We Are a Haunting: it's not easy to access. Normally, I don't like to blame a novel for this. I hate it when reviewers use words like "bloated" and "pretentious" to describe an author's writing, particularly if their only beef with it is that it gave them a hard time. In most cases, that's a reader problems. But, there are two ends to the spectrum here, and if I'm willing to fault a novel for writing that is generic and bland, I think it's possible for an author to take it too far in the opposing direction at the cost of readability.
There are plenty of moments where White's writing style feels appropriate for his purposes, and these moments are some of the best I've read in recent memory. White's poetic flourishes and distinctive turns of phrase provide a lens through which we can view his setting, this Brooklyn neighborhood with all of its neglect and abandonment, through the eyes of those who call it their home. Or when we're transported into the magical dreamscapes between life and death, with the two main characters who can communicate with those who have passed, we become fittingly disconcerted by White's language, feeling both the presence and absence of those wandering souls at the stygian river. It's during these instances that White, through form and content, reaches art.
Beef begins simmering, though, when 90% of the novel (a made-up number) is written like this, and it begins to affect pace and mood and tone during moments that feel like they require the no-nonsense dirt and grime of realism. There's no reason to force readers into the dizzying heights of poesy when you're depicting a playground scuffle, for example; and if there is a reason for it, whatever that reason is is overshadowed by the sense of unnecessary literary acrobatics -- of showing off simply because you can.
Now, lemme step down off my soapbox cause I wasn't even trying to do all that. The majority of We Are a Haunting is really really good. To say that the novel lacks a plot is akin to saying that the "Mona Lisa" lacks movement. It's definitely there, but it's so subtle you could miss it. It's at once a snapshot of America and a testament to a people whose strength is drawn up from their roots. The themes of community, the importance of oneness through hardship, are skillfully conveyed through setting and characterization, as is protagonist Colly's aimlessness as he deals with the death of his mother, Key, while searching for purpose in a place where all roads lead nowhere. White has an almost intuitive understanding of the people he writes about, and he does for New York what Daniel Mason did for North Woods, drawing me so completely into his world that I felt a part of it.
But as much as I'm interested in seeing what Tyriek White produces next, I'm not sure I have it in me to engage in it unless he tempers his style somewhat. This one nearly kicked my ass.
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