If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
Publication date: September 6, 2022

Date read: September 1, 2023

Audiobook narrated by Torian Brackett



In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But America, as the couple and their two children learn, is far from the promised land. Excluded from society as Black immigrants, the family pushes on through Hurricane Andrew and later the 2008 recession, living in a house so cursed that the pet fish launches itself out of its own tank rather than stay. But even as things fall apart, the family remains motivated, often to its own detriment, by what their younger son, Trelawny, calls "the exquisite, racking compulsion to survive."

I'm still not completely sure how I feel about this book as a whole. There were parts of it that I found really interesting, and some that just didn't work for me personally. It also took until about halfway through the book until the chapters started to feel coherent as a story, at which point I did start to get invested in the storyline a little more.

Despite not being as invested in the story as I would have liked, I did find the characters really interesting. The majority of the story focuses on Trelawney - the younger son in the family, and also the one who always seems to get the short end of the stick. The older brother, Delano, was less likable, although his story about trying to get his business back on track was one that I did enjoy. And the cousin Cukie's story was my favorite, although not exactly a happy one. Although, to be fair, none of the stories were especially happy.

Overall, this book is definitely more about character development than exciting plot. I have a hard time recommending it to many readers, although those who appreciate a slow-burn character-driven story will probably find things to like here. It often feels like a memoir at times rather than a plot-driven novel.

As for the audiobook narration itself, I thought that Brackett did an excellent job. For those who like to read audiobooks at faster speed, I was only able to listen to this one at 1.25x max, due to the parts where Brackett read in a thick Jamaican accent - anything faster was too hard for me to follow.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Content warning: ethnic slurs, racism and racial profiling, death of a baby, homelessness, assault, death of a pet

Note: language

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

If I Survive You - okay, it was my favorite of the three. There’s a reason this is nominated for the @nationalbookfoundation award for fiction. These interconnected stories read like a novel and share the experience of Trelawny, the bookish, youngest son of a Jamaican-American family living in Florida. I really loved this one.

If I Survive You is one of my favorite audiobooks of the year so far! The story of a first-generation American child of Jamaican immigrants struggling to find their place in the world and what this all means is one that I sympathize with. This book is so much more than the story of an identity crisis, it’s a story of the life of Trelawny and how the actions of everyone around him and his family members have impacted his own life and decisions. This compilation of connected short stories about Trelawny’s life and the lives of his family told from each person’s point of view was incredible to hear. As the book progressed and the reader learns more about each character and how their decisions impact one another, we begin to learn more about all the things that make Trelawny, Trelawny, even as he is figuring it out. Torian Brackett’s wonderful narration gives life to Jonathan Escoffery’s incredible writing. Brackett’s narration really captured the accents and tone of each character and made it easy to follow the different stories and characters in the audiobook. Escoffery is such a talented author and wrote such fascinating multi-dimensional characters whose stories were so engrossing. While listening to this audiobook I laughed, I cried, I pondered, and reflected on my own experiences as the child of a Jamaican immigrant. This is a must-read for everyone but especially for anyone who has ever asked “What am I?”. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading more from Jonathan Escoffery in the future.

Thank you to the publisher Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

I'm so thankful to FSG/MCD for sending me both a physical copy and an audiobook version so that I could consume one of the greatest pieces of art that came out of 2022. Jonathan Escoffery is a lyrical genius and projected power onto every page making fall more and more in love with the prose.

This was one of my favourite reads of 2022. Through the use of story the narrator gives the reader terrific insights in the multiple layers of what it means to be Black. It is also a story that takes place in working class America. It illustrates the way Blackness, and race, morphs depending on location and class. The book triumphs taking the theory of Franz Fanon and woven them into an easy to understand story.

If I Survive You
by Jonathan Escoffery
4.5/5
Really beautiful writing and a multi-generational family saga set throughout the US and Jamaica with multiple narrators handled adeptly by a narrator who is quickly becoming one of my favorite voice actors!

This was a wonderful debut that I would categorize as novel-in-stories and the audiobook narration was excellent. I would not think that this unique format would led itself well to character development, but it absolutely shines.

IF I SURVIVE YOU is a collection of connected short stories that reads like novel, that reads like real life, that reads like fiction written at the highest level.

I found myself feeling all the emotions, from heartbreak to sadnesss, and moments of laughter in between. I listened to the audiobook copy, and enjoyed it.

*many thanks to Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy for review

I think I hit this one at the wrong time. I really enjoyed the first two stories….but then I entirely lost the thread. This may have been a me thing, but nonetheless, I was not motivated to finish it and didn’t….DNF’ed at 25%.

A remarkable novel-in-stories documenting one family's immigrant experience in Miami from the 90s through the financial crisis of the late aughts. While other voices come to the fore in some stories, the focus of the story is primarily on Trelawny and his struggle to define himself. This striving manages to weave in elements of oppression, comedy and heavy doses of tragedy. But trumping all of this, is that each story grasps the smallest bit of hope. Hope towards escape, hope towards belonging.

This is a book that sticks with you. Heartbreaking and melancholic peppered with moments of laughter, truly one that cannot be missed!

A collection of interconnected short stories told from a few different points of view. I can see that this is excellent writing and a powerful story, but I found it very difficult to listen to. The audiobook was very well done, but parts of the content where not for me.

This book is a series of connected short stories but the stories were not in sequence and the timelines jumped. I'm not a big fan of jumpy timelines, especially on audio because you can easily miss where you are. Some of the short stories are poignant and resonated with me. The pain of leaving your homeland in Jamaica and trying to make it in a new country. And then dealing with issues of race being black vs Jamaican. The relationship and tension between father and son throughout was palpable. I'm still grappling with the story. There are points were my attention wavered and there are points and stories where I was blown away. I liked some of the stories very much (sibling rivalry, what will one do for a home, the pregnancy and meeting his father story just hit me hard) and some of the stories, unfortunately did not hold my interest.

If I Survive You was an interesting book, set in a short story form. I liked the perspective of different characters, but it didn't ignite a spark for me. I think the beginning started out strong, but lagged a lot in the middle. While I appreciated the audiobook to hear the father's Jamaican patois properly, it was a bit hard to understand on audio. I stopped at 45%.

A book about a Jamaican family's American dream that centers around Trelawny who will try just anything to improve his quality of life. I loved the structure of the short stories and how they read like a novel. I cannot believe this is a debut! I felt great compassion towards the characters and wanted them to be okay.

Torian Brackett is an A++ narrator.

A collection of interwoven short stories following members of a Jamaican-American family as life unfolds around them. Some stories floored me (mainly Trelawny's), and some stories left me wanting more or left me feeling little at all. Ranging anywhere from 1.5-5 stars as individuals, I feel comfortable landing on 3 stars for this as a collection.

A beautiful collection of short stories, but, also not your typical book of short stories. These stories are all woven together with the same central character(s). I almost wish the author had written this as a memoir, or even exaggerated it and made it a novel. However, each story captivated me. The author did and incredible job at weaving some humor into stories that have a theme of racial oppression and a flawed immigration system. The audiobook narrator was fantastic, as well. I will be recommending this book to friends and family (and strangers!).

I would also like to address the reviews I saw on this book that said “this wasn’t written for me.” or that you’re “not the intended audience.” How unfortunate that you choose not to learn from the author’s experience and take yourself outside of your comfort zone. I encourage you to lean in and ask yourself WHY any of this book makes you uncomfortable, then learn from that. I, in fact, think this book was written just for you, and I hope those reviews don’t discourage other readers.

Thank you Net Galley for providing this copy. This was unique read. I didn't realize until the end of the second story that these were all connected. I found that fun to guess who we would be reading from next. Some stories were, fun, complete, sad or too ridiculous to believe. It was an okay read overall. The narrator was amazing. I would love to listen to more of his audiobook narrations.

I loved this book--it was thoroughly compelling, completely gripping. While I struggled with the accept from the section direction from/to the father in the narrative--I loved this book so incredibly much. It was such a thrilling, often different, often loving and always compelling novel. The ending was so unusual, the whole book often written at the pace of a great Alice Munro story, but with the more millennial touch of Claire Vaye Watkins, and a certain uniqueness all its own. I would definitely read this book again and will recommend it to other readers and friends. What a book.

Escoffery's stories are smart, realized, and stunning. They are at their core stories for so many Jamaican families, mired in colourism and classism(racism), fidelity, freedom of self, and self-actualization. Steeped in obvious sociopolitical and economic experiences, each story traces the movement of this not-Black but maybe-Black family in a country where everything is labelled.

Trelawny acts as the locus for this novel, born to Jamaican parents who yearn for the island they were able to flee when violence erupts, he struggles to cement himself within a cultural structure that seems determined to pigeonhole him.

Escoffery explores the many ways in which power dynamics exist and shift between members and within the family structure, how acceptance and identity can affect self-worth and self-actualization and determine the very ways we move through relationships. As intimate as it is socially aware, If I Survive You will stick with you for a very long time.