BookOfCinz's Reviews > Ibis

Sharp, engaging, brilliant, witty and unforgettable. Get ready for an incredibly unique read with characters you won’t soon forget.

Ibis opens in New Felicity Village, a costal town in Trinidad, there is an increase of Ibis landing in the village where is a bad omen that all the villagers can’t seem to shake. Told from the numerous perspective we meet the villagers who are seeing an increase in Venezuelans coming to the shores of Trinidad. They decided to take in an 11-year old Venezuelan refugee, Milagors, just as an American journalist visits the village to break the story and as the Trinidadian government decide to clamp down on the undocumented Venezuelans.

With the journalist asking too many questions, the villagers decide to take care of him. At which point, three fishermen from the village close by are held captive in Venezuela and each new day a body part is sent over to let them know a ransom must be paid. New Felicity is under siege, it could be the remnant of the village being on an old plantation or them getting rid of a witch was wreaking havoc on the village- no one knows for sure, but these Ibis are bad news.

We go backward and forward in time, from the village time when it was a plantation and how that affects them to present day. There are numerous voices from the villagers to the eleven year old Milagros and her mother. All coming together in the most explosive and unforgettable way. Justin Haynes did a spectacular job writing this book. The voices of the villages are haunting and they bring to life a real life crisis being faced in Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. Addressed are:
The migrant crisis
how Venezuelans are being treated unfairly and discriminated against
sex trafficking of women and girls to Trinidad and Tobago
lost of family, lives and loved ones
Finding new family, and how that impacts their identity.

So much is covered in this book but it is done in a way that does not feel heavy and exhausting. I enjoyed how Haynes added the history of the village, we read of an overseer coming to Trinidad to run the plantation on which the village now stands. We get a very clear look into what it is like for Venezuelans to leave their homes to come to Trinidad and how their families get ripped apart. I particularly loved how we followed Milargos story and her search to find her mother. Truly an unforgettable read. I do wish there was a family tree because sometimes it felt hard to follow along on who was related to who.

A brilliant debut, I can’t wait to see what Justin Haynes writes next!