Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the author for gifting me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

What an incredibly powerful and moving book - it will definitely stay with me for a long time. Set in Barbados in 1834 and following the main character Obah, which is told through the eyes of Jacob.
Full of emotions that have you on your rollercoaster throughout filled with love, heartbreak, and tears, that has you captivated from the beginning and explains and tells the stories of the barbaric actions of white plantation slave owners and the horrors that black people had to endure.

A compelling and powerful story that had me gripped and I couldn't stop thinking about after I had finished it. This book will stay with me my whole life

A powerful story that stays with you long after you've closed the book. A compelling time-slip story that explores the legacy of slavery and a friendship that transcends time.

I liked the idea of this novel:a time slip story which would show the threads of racism over two centuries.Sadly,the detail failed to live up to my expectations.I liked the first third of the story.I found the historical background interesting and thought YA readers would find it informative.I think reading the dialect would slow some people down but this just adds to the credibility of the character.Where it went wrong for me was the modern day character,Jacob,I wanted this to be a dual narrative book.I wanted to know how and why he time travelled and more about his thoughts and feelings.I didn’t find Obah living in the modern day convincing,nor her sudden decision to take on her home situation. Unfortunately,I was disappointed.

Obah is a slave on a Barbados plantation in 1834. Jacob is a descendant of a slave-owning family, determined to atone for the crimes of his ancestors. When Jacob finds a way to time travel to Obah's plantation, he seizes his chance to give her a life of freedom in present-day Somerset. But Jacob has underestimated Obah's experiences on the plantation and the culture shock she encounters in twenty-first century England, and Obah has discovers that the two teenagers are more closely connected than she realised.

It's an interesting premise for a story. Obah is a perfect protagonist to take on the injustices of life on the plantation, and to recognise the problems of present-day society from her unique viewpoint. She's intelligent and determined, but she knows how to keep herself safe and obey the rules that govern her life, both in Barbados and in the UK.

The supporting characters, and Obah's relationships with them, give the book its page-turning pace. In Barbados she works in the kitchens, and directly for the wife of the owner. Her mother escaped from the plantation when Obah was young, and Obah has built her own family among the slaves. With them, she finds warmth and community while she navigates constant danger from the owner and his overseer, and the whims of the owner's wife and daughter. The author doesn't romanticise life on the plantation, and the reader is not spared the horrific experiences Obah and her found family share. There is no gratuitous detail, but the matter-of-fact reactions of the slaves to their punishments and hardships is more heartbreaking than any over-dramatised anger or confrontation. The unending injustice and cruelty is harrowing to read.

In England, Obah slowly learns to trust Jacob and his mother and sister. It takes time for her to understand that she is not expected to work or take care of them, and to understand the expectations of modern-day society on her. She sees injustices that they, as a wealthy white family, do not, and it is this that drives the twenty-first century sections of the story.

There are all sorts of issues with writing a novel like this. Avoiding the White Saviour trope, and the obvious difficulties both characters will experience as they are displaced from their homes, feels extremely important to making this story work in 2023. Both characters learn about themselves, their societies, and their prejudices, and come to see the power Obah has over her life, if she can work out how to use it. I'm not completely convinced that the author has fully avoided all the issues with the setup, but the story structure is neat and the characters engaging. It definitely gives the reader plenty to think about.

How Far We've Come is a compelling YA novel exploring the legacy of slavery.

Comparisons to Kindred were always going to be inevitable with a time-travel concept like this, and I was intrigued to see how Harmer approached it from a YA perspective. I found Obah's voice instantly engaging, and the world and characters of 1834 Barbados are vividly drawn.

Sadly the story loses its way when Obah enters the 21st century. Jacob and his family don't feel like fully-realised characters, and the exploration of white guilt is a little heavy-handed. There was a definite sense that the Barbados plot was the one that really mattered, and the 21 century interlude was only there to make a (valid, but obvious) point.

How Far We've Come is a brave debut from a promising new YA voice.

Through multiple POVs, "How Far We've Come" explores themes of tradition, family, womanhood, and identity. The novel is a beautifully written and poignant exploration of rich cultural heritage and the journey towards progress and empowerment. It is a must-read for fans of historical fiction and African literature.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

It's so hard to rate a book like this one that talks of the unspeakable things that humans did. I have complicated feelings about the book: on the one hand, I thought this could be the science-fiction novel Kindred (Octavia Butler) wasn't, but in the end it wasn't. On the other hand, I wasn't terribly convinced by the unrequited-ish InstaCrush between Obah and Jacob; nor did I have any patience for the amount of white guilt that finds space.

Obah is a great protagonist, and she stays true to herself. Ultimately, though, while I loved what happened, I wan't too convinced that it did or could have, particularly the big timing-related coincidence. Anyhow, I won't spoil it for anyone!

(Review copy from Amazon)