The Fallen Fruit is a behemoth of a story across generations and hundreds of years. The author slowly introduces us to members, across 200 years or more, of the Bridge family - who are afflicted by a time=travel curse, stealing many of their youngest members to the past. Overall, the story was engaging and artfully crafted to show the connections between future and past - versions of ourself and others, and that destiny is always watching. I did find myself having many unanswered questions at the end - which was the only frustrating part of this book. I would recommend for fans of slow burns, historical fiction with a touch of fantasy. Overall 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Netgalley, Shawntelle Madison, and Harper Collins for the eARC of The Fallen Fruit in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Fallen Fruit is a rich tale founded in history with a splash of science fiction. I love a multigenerational story and I was interested to see how the Bridge family fared throughout. This book is heavy, emotional, and beautifully written. It did take me a while to get through as there are so many different characters (with different/changed names!) and story lines throughout. I did enjoy the romance aspect at the end and the suspense of not knowing where the story would turn.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a free copy.

The fact that this novel was compared to Kindred by Octavia E. Butler was what largely captured my attention. However, unlike Kindred, I found my attention to be straying as I read on. Perhaps it was because I took a long break in the middle of the novel and came back to a plot I couldn’t keep track of, or the incredibly slow and tedious writing style, or the fact that there were so many characters where none of them felt distinct enough to me.

Though, I will say, this novel’s themes center around family and grief, about fighting against a power we seemingly have no control over, if those are right up your alley. These are themes I can get behind as well as, of course, time travel and a story that doesn’t center around white people.

I really can’t say much about this book because I decided to DNF at 19%. I’m generally not a fan of multiple timelines and multiple POVs which this story has. That’s just my personal preference, and in no way am I saying this creative decision makes the book bad. Ultimately, I stopped reading because I found myself skimming which means I was bored.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amistad for an advanced eARC.

I am not a fan of most time travel media. I find it confusing and hard to keep up with. I chose this book simply for the historical fiction aspect and was willing to look past the time travel. While there were points where I got a bit confused, overall, it wasn’t too difficult to keep up. HOWEVER! What?!?! I have so many questions about the end of this book. Unless I missed some major detail, this was a big letdown! Like, I truly feel like there was no point! If the time travel part were left out, it could have been a great generational story. Adding time travel and not giving any kind of conclusion just seems wasteful. I genuinely hope I’m wrong and maybe I missed something because I don’t understand what just happened.

I absolutely adored this book. The story is broken up into multiple parts, each part dedicated to a different Bridge family member and each in a different time period. The historical fiction aspect of this work was captivating, as one member of the Bridge family is sent back in time every generation. Rules are established so that they can stay safe, and prevent any (un)foreseen consequences that every time traveler must occupy themselves in counteracting.

I have read some other time-travel fictions and it can be difficult to get right in a way that doesn’t leave the reader confused and lost – The Fallen Fruit is an excellent example of time travel in books done well.

My sincerest thanks to NetGalley, Amistad, and Shawntelle Madison for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Fallen Fruit will be published September 3, 2024.

This book was a little slow to start but once it got going I found it hard to put down. I enjoyed the tale of the Bridge family, a family with the curse of falling through time. I enjoyed reading this book and thought the characters well written.

As with any book with time travel and frequent character changes, at times things could get confusing. One thing that did not help was that characters often were introduced with a full name and then later would be called by a nickname - not usually the most common one associated with that name, and the characters who moved through time often changed their name. I found this quite confusing at times and felt it could have been made simpler for the reader somehow.
Next was just keeping track of where in time you were - this probably would have been easier reading a physical book where you could flip back and easily see the chapter headings.

The biggest issue I had with this book was the ending. For me, I just felt the book ended with us understanding the origin of the curse or how things would play out after the last character made their last decisions. I just felt things were not explained fully enough and was left wanting a bit more understanding. But I still greatly enjoyed the book and definitely would make a good book club read with lots to discuss.

The Fallen Fruit is a story about time travel and a curse on a family with a romance as well. This book is very captivating and holds your attention as the story unfolds. The time travel was a little confusing at times as I didn’t quite always pick up where we were in time at some points in the book. The character development is the best part of the book and the well rounded characters really shine throughout the book. Although I found some of the storyline difficult to follow, this book was a really good read and I would recommend it to people who enjoy time travel with a bit of history and fantasy elements as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amistad Books for this ARC.

When "The Fallen Fruit" opens, we find that Cecily Bridge has inherited a family farm. As she unearths her family's mysterious history, she discovers a family curse that causes one child from each Bridge man to be thrust back in time.

I've read a few time travel books before, but none have combined Black history with the concept of time travel, and it certainly makes for a unique premise. Reading a multi-generational story allowed me to really understand the dynamics of this specific family and see how each time period came with unique challenges for free Black people in Virginia. Shawntelle Madison did an incredible job of naturally incorporating historical information into the narrative.

I also loved that this book shows that sometimes you cannot change history. You follow several key characters, and the narrative shows how their choices impact future generations.

Overall the pacing is extremely slow. A lot of information is presented to the reader, and I found myself re-reading certain passages to ensure that I fully understood what was happening.

My only hangup was the ending of this book. I felt like there were still A LOT of unanswered questions and I just wanted more of the story. However, this book does paint a very detailed picture of life in Virginia for free African Americans at the time, and the characters, while flawed, were endearing and memorable.

I absolutely LOVED The Fallen Fruit. Really interesting take on the time travel concept in books, kind of similar in a sense to the Time Travelers Wife. Obviously fiction and yet it still didn't read as very far fetched.
Cecily has recently inherited her ancestral land in Virginia, and while preparing to sell it, she begins researching the family she knows so little about. What she learns seems preposterous, in the Bridge family, one child will always "fall" back in time suddenly. The book spans centuries, telling the stories of the Bridge family, both the fallen and the ones who remain. I loved the stories and the characters, however at times it could be a bit confusing simply because its a lot of characters, time periods, names and name changes, but all in all an excellent read.
4.5 stars but rounding up to 5.
Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for access to this ARC.

This is a fascinating, unique story that I enjoyed. We follow various members of Bridge family through time as they face the challenges set upon them by a family curse. The curse sends one descendant from each male line back in time. The time spans range from late 1700s to 1960s. The curse enacts itself and like the snap of a finger, the person is transported back in time. Additionally, the Bridge family are black.

The time jumps are shocking and heartbreaking, even though you know they’re coming. No spoilers, so I’ll spare details but this book is gut wrenching at times. The historical aspects well done, little bits about the land & life in the various time periods were wonderful.

Leaving off a star because it’s a very confusing book. Quite a few characters and of course so many time jumps. Along with changes from 1st person to 3rd, it was difficult to follow at times.

If the premise interests you, I’d recommend the physical book. You want to jump back to previous chapter a lot, which is harder to do with the ebook.

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of "The Fallen Fruit" by Shawntelle Madison. In this review, I aim to highlight the notable aspects of the novel.

"The Fallen Fruit" delves deeply into the theme of time travel, offering a captivating narrative that held my interest from start to finish. The premise of time travel, particularly within a historical context, intrigued me greatly. The novel follows the Bridges family across different time periods in a fantastical manner, where a member of each generation is unexpectedly transported back in time, spanning from the late 1700s to the 1960s.

Throughout the story, Madison skillfully navigates through various eras, including those marked by slavery and civil rights movements, while exploring the challenges faced by the Bridges family in coping with their temporal displacement.

For readers who appreciate a blend of historical fiction and science fiction, "The Fallen Fruit" offers a compelling narrative that is sure to captivate and engage.

I received an ARC of The Fallen Fruit by Shawntelle Madison

Kindred light. Less graphic than Kindred. Instead of one person time traveling, and only to a certain location/time, one sibling from the family born of the male line is cursed with the ability to time travel. They never know what year they will end up in, so there are rules put in place (including always carrying free papers). I enjoyed the different perspectives of the members that went back in time, and those that were left in the "present." If you enjoy black history, time travel, and searching for answers, this book is for you.

The Fallen Fruit follows the Bridge family and the curse that’s caused them to fall into various time periods for centuries. This book was phenomenally written and immersive in character development. Following Cecily and her journey through finding out about her family was gripping. I do wish I had had this a physical copy, being able to flip back to the family tree and keep notes of everything would have kept everything on track for me a bit better.

The Fallen Fruit is a really well executed historical fiction chronicling generations of members of an extended family anchored in a piece of land in Charlottesville purchased by one woman who earned her emancipation to establish a Free State family farm — true story. The story goes back and forth in time, as do the characters, through an unfortunate wrinkle in time of sorts causing one-way, involuntary time travel — not true! It’s a fascinating concept with believable, interesting, likable interwoven characters, and a plot line that kept me turning pages to find out what happens.

I keep thinking this is what I expected Sing Unburied, Sing to be like, except that that book had no likeable characters, was bleak to no end and the magical realism didn’t make any sense.

In The Fallen Fruit, on the other hand, the magical aspects are the canvas for the story upon which characters act believably as they move through time. In different sections of the book, stories unfold for different family members of different generations who are linked together by lineage. The way the scenery and changes in laws, culture, treatment of Black Americans, rights and access to voting/education/civil rights for Blacks and women provided a fascinating, well researched backdrop reminded me some of Homegoing in how well done it was.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fallen Fruit uses the story of a family of time travelers to capture the lives of African Americans in Virginia from the late 1700s to the early 1900s. Rather than having one main character, the book follows several key characters in the Bridge family and how their lives and choices shaped the family curse.

I expected the book to have a more mystery element, maybe following Cecil’s as she uncovers for herself the time traveling mystery, but that isn’t what happens with how the book is organized. Instead I found myself a bit lost as to where the story was going. Because of that I think readers will enjoy the book most if they have the expectation of a story focused on the lives of the characters themselves, shaped by time travel rather than a mystery that drives the book. I do think reading a physical copy would help so you could go back and reference past sections and the family tree.

For me I wish there had been more time spent on unraveling the curse and I felt like it ended with a lot of unanswered questions. Still it paints a detailed picture of life in Virginia for free African Americans at that time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Amistad for the ARC!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

The Fallen Fruit is a historical fantasy about the Bridge family who has been cursed for one member of each family unit from the male line to fall back in time. Cecily Bridge has inherited her family's farm and is on a mission to figure things out before she succumbs to the family curse.

I was really interested in reading this book. The concept was very intriguing to me. I love the mix of fantasy with historical fiction which is a genre I have come to love. The pacing is slow and the timeline is not linear; if there was not a family tree in the beginning of the book I would have been completely lost. There were so many characters to follow too some I wasn't even for sure why we were reading about them. The ending also left me unsatisfied because it felt like there were too many loose ends still not answered. Maybe some of the answers were explained and I just missed them. This is definitely the type of book that deserves several reads.

This is definitely a good read that I do recommend if you like historical fiction. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of The Fallen Fruit.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked how immersive the different time periods were and the character development within each family grouping. It was a little hard to keep track of the family sometimes and I had to keep referring to the family tree, but that’s why it is there. Thank you Amistead and Shawntelle Madison for the opportunity to read this book!

This story follows several family members of the Bridge family as they navigate life with the knowledge that they or their relatives could be sent backwards through time, and how to be prepared for such inevitabilities. Do they interfere with past events, try to change history, or mind their own business? Read and find out!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

I wanted to love this book because the tagline reminds me so much of Kindred by Octavia Butler. And while I do get threads of that, this book fell far short of that mark. I thought that it jumped around too much, and in a way that didn't make sense to me. I also wished there was more explanation for why this family kept falling through time. It felt like it wasn't as fleshed out as it could have been. I also didn't feel connected to the characters. Don't get me wrong, the book has good bones, but I think it could have been better. Rating: 3.5