Ranita Atwater has just been released from Oak Hills Correctional Center after serving four years for opiate possession. As she re-enters the world, she has one goal: reunification with her children. To get them back, she'll have to prove that she is clean and capable to her therapist, to her social worker, to her family -- and to herself. All the while, she's desperately missing her girlfriend Maxine at Oak Hills, and trying to make peace with her past mistakes.

Pomegranate is a powerful character study that takes readers deep into the mind and heart of a vulnerable, imperfect young woman who is trying her best to make a fresh start. Told on dual timelines in the first and third person, Helen Elaine Lee juxtaposes Ranita's post-prison life with the moments from her past that shaped her present, to paint a complex portrait of modern Black womanhood and motherhood. Lee's prose is lyrical, profound, and intimate, weaving together Ranita's life experiences in a way that's both propulsive and psychologically nuanced. I felt so much warmth and sympathy for Ranita; I rooted for her so hard. She's conveyed with so much tenderness, and so much strength.

Pomegranate is a novel about addiction and recovery, childhood trauma and dysfunctional family relationships, regrets and redemption and forgiveness. It's a love story on several levels, and at its heart just a simple, beautiful story about a flawed person determined to overcome all the things weighing her down. I found it to be incredibly affecting, and Ranita is a character I'll be thinking about for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance reading opportunity.

‘Pomegranate’ is a story about healing and finding oneself. It’s about learning to love who you are and appreciating the journey you have been on. Ranita is a women who has just been released from jail and she is putting her life back together. She is a former addict that is trying to stay clean so she can spend more time with her children. The books goes back and forth between her recovery and her traumatic past.

This book gives readers a glimpse of a person’s journey as they become clean and live their daily lives. Recovery is never a straightforward path. There are setbacks and times when a person gives up altogether. The author of this books brings to light the issues surrounding how inmates and people with additions are treated by society. Within the prison system, the women are treated in dehumanizing ways. The author does not shy away from difficult topics such as these. This book is told in such an emotional and touching way that the reader cannot help but cheer for Ranita throughout this story.

Thank you Atria books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ranita has just been released from prison and is trying to regain freedom from hurtful and damaging patterns of behaviour all the while imagining a better life for herself and her children. It’s a rocky road to being completely free of bad habits and the preconceived ideas she has of herself. Who will she claim to be? Wrestling with her past is hard work.
Really powerful moments in this book, through many flashbacks which describe how in fact she became incarcerated. There were also some beautiful moments with her therapist as she comes to terms with being female, Black and queer. Where I really enjoyed the writing, I generally feel like these characters could have been better developed. It was like we were allowed just a glimpse of who they were. Ranita is a character you hope the best for having the weight of the outside world on her shoulders, and while there were sincere moments between her and her children trying to regain their trust I felt more attention could have been given to that part of the story. The metaphor of the pomegranate interwoven into the storyline was very clever. Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance copy.

Thank you to Atria Books, NetGalley and the author for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was a powerful punch to the gut in a devastatingly beautiful way. The writing was so descriptive and read like a memoir although it is a work of fiction. We follow Ranita upon her release from prison as she struggles to transition back into the real world. There is much at stake: her sobriety, reunification with her children, confronting demons from her past and making amends with those she has disappointed. Her story is slowly peeled back as we see glimpses into her troubled childhood, her descent into drug and alcohol dependence and her subsequent incarceration. We walk beside her as she battles self-doubt, grief, anger and resentment. As having lost people close to me to addiction, I was fully invested in Ranita’s journey. I am a straight white woman and feel as though her perspective as a queer Black woman was enlightening.

I can’t say I” enjoyed” this book because it was gritty and downright painful at times. But it is one that I see myself carrying with me for years to come. I highly recommend it for anyone longing for a story of redemption and perseverance through adversity.

Ranita is very human and in this story readers get a very up close and personal look at her. All her failings. All her self-doubt. All her questions. All her trauma. But also all her successes. All her love to give and to receive. And all her future possibilities. The book reads very much like a memoir, taking place both in the present and through several looks back to pivotal moments in her younger life. I particularly enjoyed the sections that highlighted Ranita's connection to trees and plants, and of course the whole connection between her father and the p0megranate. Coming to grips with being female, black, and queer while also focusing on her own sobriety and reunification with her kids is a heavy weight for Ranita to carry. The reader feels all of it. Read this book but go in to it prepared to feel all the feels.

This moves back and forth in time to tell Ranita's story- the story of a girl who was abused by her mother and others, a teen who fell in love and for drugs, a woman who went to prison, and a mother who wants desperately to get her children back. Ranita and her father shared a special bond over the encyclopedia and the natural world while her mother, who died when she was 13, was constantly critical. Jaspar, the father of her children and her first love, took her out of the stable life and down the rat hole until his death and her subsequent fall in with DQ, who uses her. Her arrest and prison sentence save her life and she builds a new relationship in prison. Once out the therapist she resisted turns out to be an ally, as do her aunts especially Jessie. I liked that Ranita's story rolled out slowly, with little bits coming together near the end. The writing is terrific- Ranita's voice is strong- and this became an unexpected page turner for me. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Wonderful, informative, thought provoking, insightful - highly recommend.

This was an interesting book that explores one's life after serving time. I really liked how this book did not focus too much on the character's crime but rather their life that led them to the point of the crime and their rehabilitation after. I appreciated the way that Lee humanized a character that so many would only look at by their worst mistakes.

After years of drug abuse and a forced rehab in prison, Ranita struggles to maintain sobriety while she rebuilds her life and tries to regain custody of her children. A heartbreaking look at addiction and the dehumanization of being incarcerated.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the e-arc of this book.

This is a story of redemption and resilience. The main character Ranita is just getting released from jail after serving time for opiate possession. The book glimpses the present of the main character trying to rebuild her life, while glimpsing in her past before jail and during her time serving her sentence.

As a reader, you will see the struggle of her trying to rebuild her life with her family and come to terms with her identity. She confronts her past demons, while trying to regain hope for the future and her family It is gritty and raw but portrays hope and strength. A 4 star for me as at times it was a bit slow.

The book is written in prose, but it reads like poetry. Ranita’s story is told in snippets and flashbacks that slowly piece together the humanity of her trauma. It is fitting that we never fully discover why Ranita was incarcerated for four years because that is not the point. What matters is Ranita’s relationship with her children Amara and Theo, her deceased parents, her struggle to stay clean, her love for Maxine, and finding her identity separate from the negative forces in her life.

Ranita Atwater is getting out of prison for opiate possession after a four year sentence. She is determined to stay clean and get her children back. She looks back on her life and a relationship in prison that helped to open her mind to more she could be.

This was a powerful story. Anyone interested in mental health and/or addiction will like this. It is about recovery and looking back at events in our life that made us who we are. There are in-depth therapy sessions included which was interesting from a psychology perspective. This is really a life study of Ranita, what makes her who she is, and her struggle to better herself.

“There was a whole world, strange and crazy - beautiful, underneath the skin. Layer on crooked layer of Ruby crystals. And chambers, like inside a heart.”

Pomegranate comes out 4/11.

Through first person narration in the present and third person flashbacks to relevant earlier moments in her life, Ranita’s character is shown as a whole person: the good and the bad and the truth of being human. Each main character received careful attention and was so realistically depicted that I would have believed this was a memoir if you told me that. Based on the final acknowledgements in the book, it seems like the author has really put in the work to write stories about incarcerated main characters and to share their truth with the world.

Ranita struggled with familial, intimate partner, and sexual abuse, and also had an amazing father whose guidance and willingness to stand by her probably saved her life. She had a loving relationship with a woman who taught her that romance wasn’t dead despite the hurt she had experienced. In prison and after getting out she experienced the truly unfair nature of the way it affected her life in a way that made everything a fight to keep going in the right direction. She chose sobriety over and over and even when she stumbled, she didn’t let it stop her from getting back on the right track. She was in therapy that was portrayed really well based on my own experiences, but also dealt with the stigma in the Black community about going to therapy at all. She wasn’t sure of her queer identity, but she managed to find community that was both Black and queer and reached back out to the woman she loved. She had to earn back the relationship with her kids, make mistakes, and find ways to navigate the cycle of abuse.

One of my favorite moments was when she shared she was queer with her therapist and had progressed enough in that relationship for her therapist to trust her with his queer identity as well while maintaining professional boundaries. It just felt so true and right. Also, the scene with her daughter on their first overnight where she couldn’t quite tell her why she was so worried about an adult taking an interest in her success, but managed to connect with her through doing her hair gently. This is not an easy book to read, but it also doesn’t leave you hopeless.

The only reason I’d give this book 4.5 instead of 5 stars is its function as literary fiction means there isn’t much of a plot besides Ranita going about her life, and therefore it’s hard to say where the book should end. There is a bit of a “roll credits” moment involving the title, but we are also intentionally left without answers to many of the questions the book has asked, such as will Ranita successfully have a queer relationship outside of prison, get her kids back, or even just successfully speak to a teacher she’s worried about at her kid’s school. It is true to life that the story simply ends, but I can’t help wanting just a little bit more.

thanks netgalley and atria for the arc !!

i thought this was a really good sweet story. i found ranita so easy to love, empathize with and root for. i liked the writing style, mostly quick and to the point w/ some super poignant, lyrical moments sprinkled in. loved the exploration of addiction, redemption, and sacrifice, loved the themes surrounding race, queerness, and family plus the deeper more complex themes of breaking ur own heart, standing in ur own way & ultimately learning how to forgive urself. whew ! definitely a powerful read.

i will say that it felt at times to move a tiny bit slower than i'd like, which is why it's more like 4 stars to me.

still really loved the journey, and will def recommend this to others!

This was a very good story. Heartbreaking at times, but the author definitely has a way with words. I look forward to more.

This book did a good job of exploring some of the roots of addiction and paths to redemption. The time-jumping aspect kind of lost me. While it provided a sense of chronological actions and events leading to the present of the book, it left more questions than it answered. It felt disjointed, like a few scattered pictures taken at different points in time rather than a fully fleshed out narrative, and the reader has to make assumptions about causation and missing links.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has so much heartbreak and pain and frustration and hope. I'm really glad I read it, especially when for a little bit there I was worried it would just be hurt after hurt, but knew I was going to push through regardless. Pomegranate is very much about the past and the present, and how we are all of our past selves at once. It's about growth and change in combination with not being able to fully escape your past. It's about queer love, and the way society sets some people up to fail, and the bravery it takes to open up to others. It's so so beautiful and I would highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Pomegranate is a moving novel about one woman's journey following her release from prison and her struggles with addiction. This story is definitely more character driven and focused on the inner world of Ranita, her struggles, and the revelations of her past. At times it felt a little slow as there was less action in the present - but I ultimately enjoyed the story of acceptance and redemption.

Pomegranate follows Ranita, a Black woman working to regain custody of her children and put her life back together. After four years of imprisonment and a lifetime of trauma, addiction and heartbreak that she’s locked away, she must learn to face her past in order to move forward and choose her own path in life.

This book hits hard, and definitely had me on the verge of tears at several points. I love a good character study, and Pomegranate is unique in that it follows a character who decidedly does not want to be studied—Ranita resists the sympathy of the reader and resists delving into her tumultuous past for as long as she can. This does make the book a bit hard to invest in at the start, but once I invested in Ranita’s story I wanted to be there with her till the end. This is also a POV that we don’t hear from often—a Black, recently incarcerated woman who comes into her queer identity later in life—and it was refreshing to see this story treated with so much care and, ultimately, optimism.

That said, there were a few aspects of the writing that I found a bit clumsy. The story is told in alternating chapters that shift from Ranita’s first-person POV in the present day to her third-person POV in flashbacks throughout her childhood and young adulthood. The voice in the first-person portions is sharp, witty and realistic, but by contrast a lot of the spoken dialogue felt stilted and unnatural, and sometimes pulled me completely out of the rhythm of reading. Some of the symbols that acted as through-lines in the book, such as the pomegranate, also came off as very heavy-handed and didn’t carry as much meaning as they could have if they were treated with more subtlety.

All in all, though, Pomegranate explores trauma thoughtfully, offers redemption no matter how far our main character feels she’s fallen, and shines a light on an often-overlooked intersection of identity.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. For me the pacing didn’t keep my attention so I DNF’d at 45%.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.

Pomegranate is an absolute powerhouse of a read, I have been recommending it to everyone I know who cares about stories of women, social justice, and individual and collective healing. This is the kind of book I hope to see on assigned reading lists for young people. It challenges the reader to rethink trauma, race, relationships, sexuality, and, ultimately, their own potential for living to the fullest and supporting others in doing the same,