My First impression of this novel was is it going to just be a simple love story do I want to persevere with it? I’m glad I did because the story is more complex and this becomes clear the more you read.
The central concept of the story is that young British black woman is in love with a white man and they are due to get married very soon . When they first meet they jokingly laugh at the fact that they have the same surname and she will have not have to change her name when they marry. her friend does some research and discovers that the man’s rich Scottish family in the past owned slaves and this may be the reason they have the same surname as slaves were often given the surname of their owner.
This research drives the young woman to investigate her own family and to take a trip to Jamaica to meet some of her distant family.
I found the story interesting and the underlying tension an interesting ethical issue. it did strike me that her best friend was taking the issue incredibly seriously and it appeared to be enough to breakdown their relationship. I didn’t quite buy this.
The author has a clear flowing prose style making the novel an easy read
This is primarily a relationship based novel, I felt that the characters were well described and felt like real people

I Practically liked this sentence “Never knowingly ordinary my mother” it described my own mother perfectly
Domino’s was published in the UK on the 7th of March 2024 by vintage
I read a copy on NetGalley UK. This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads and my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com and on Amazon UK

Dominoes by Phoebe McIntosh offers a captivating and unique love story intertwined with the profound exploration of the generational impacts of slavery. The narrative revolves around Layla, a mixed-race woman, and Andy, her white fiancé, who share the same surname, McKinnon, before marriage.

Their initial connection over their shared surname evolves into a deeper exploration when Layla delves into her family history, prompted by her friend Sera's scepticism about their impending marriage. Layla's investigation uncovers a startling truth: Andy's ancestors were slave owners who once owned Layla's family, explaining their shared surname.

The novel follows Layla's emotional journey as she grapples with this revelation and its implications for her relationship with Andy. Returning to Jamaica, Layla seeks to understand the intricate ties between her and Andy's families, both past and present.

McIntosh skillfully navigates themes of heritage, identity, and racism, prompting readers to reflect on the enduring legacy of slavery. Layla's poignant contemplation about the future of her family lineage highlights the ongoing struggle with racial identity and the weight of history.

Through compelling characters and thoughtful cultural commentary, Dominoes delivers a thought-provoking narrative that resonates long after the final page.

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 to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Dominoes by Phoebe McIntosh is a really interesting and enticing love story, but one that explores a topic I haven’t read about in a novel before – the generational repercussions of slavery. Dominoes centres around Layla, who is mixed race and Andy, her fiancé, who is white. The thing is, they have the same surname (pre-marriage), McKinnon.

Layla McKinnon meets Andy McKinnon at a house party. They hit it off immediately and eventually get engaged. The fact they share a surname, pre-marriage, is initially just a fun fact and something they like, makes it feel like they were always meant to be together.

However, Layla’s friend Sera isn’t as enthused about their impending marriage and encourages Layla to look into her family history and delve into how it is that she, from Jamaican descent can share a surname with Andy, who has Scottish roots.

That’s when Layla discovers that Andy’s family were slave owners. Essentially – they owned her family. And that’s why they have a shared surname. This is the central theme of the book, Dominoes takes us on Layla’s journey as she processes this new information and considers what it means for her that Andy’s family once owned hers.

Layla goes back to Jamaica to further explore her complex family situation and see exactly how her and Andy’s families are intertwined.

She also looks forward as well as to the past, exploring heritage and family in future generations too:

The thought of the skin colour of future generations of my family resting with me alone, and the idea that the blackness in us could simply fade out the further you got through a family photo album, filled me with intense sorrow.

Dominoes is a great book, presenting a story I hadn’t read about before and being able to both create characters you care about and raise considered cultural commentary about slavery and racism that leaves you thinking.

Layla is a mixed-race woman who will shortly marry Andy, the love of her life. Andy is white, and fun fact: they share a surname, McKinnon, a Scottish surname. This quirky coincidence leads to a devastating realisation: during the era of the British slave trade, Andy's family owned Layla's. Layla is left reeling by the discovery, questioning her entire relationship on the back of learning something so destabilising. Dominoes follows Layla's POV as she digs into this information and tries to come to terms with what it means for her life now.

I loved Dominoes - it's thoroughly entertaining, while also being quite emotional and thought-provoking in its exploration of the British slave trade. Layla discovers the truth about Andy's family via her best friend, Sera, who seems to have always been concerned that Layla suppresses her Blackness to fit in with white people in her life. She shares the information with Layla & encourages her to leave her fiancé - something that isn't so simple with a month to go before the wedding!

Layla's story is frightening and thoroughly believable, as are her reactions. As Layla learns more about her background, she finds her own beliefs and identity impacted. As a mixed-race, "passing" woman, her relationship with her Blackness is a knotty one and McIntosh does a brilliant job of exploring this. Her most compelling relationships were with her family - Jamaica-born grandad Roy is a real highlight - with her relationships with Andy and Sera paling a little in comparison. Sera, in particular, feels more like an antagonist than a best friend! I would have loved an explanation of her actions and point of view.

I found myself comparing Dominoes to last year's much-hyped The List: both focus on Black women who are just about to get married when they make rotten discoveries about their future husbands. Dominoes, for me, delivered everything I wanted from The List - it's smart, serious when it needs to be, balancing that with light-heartedness so it never feels preachy. It explores a complex topic & serious ideas while never sacrificing an entertaining plot or believable characters. A really fantastic read that I'll recommend far and wide!

I didn’t know what to expect from this book, I think it was the history aspect that drew me to it in the 1st instance. At the beginning I really enjoyed the narrative between Layla and Sera, but as the story developed I actually disengaged. I found myself skipping pages to fast forward, I found some of the language difficult to read and overall the story about slavery which is what interested me never really developed into a tangible picture. I persevered to the end but could have given up at any time. Overall I think an opportunity was missed to tell an important part of history.

Dominoes is an emotive and thought provoking read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It follows the complex story of Layla discovering that her fiancés family may have profited and benefited from the slave trade and possibly were slave owners who owned her ancestors in Jamaica. The book looks at the impact of this on Laylas own beliefs and identity as well as the impact it has on the many relationships in her life. I was completely immersed in this book and really enjoyed the range of emotions and journey that Layla goes on to come to terms with her history and her relationship with her fiancé and his family.
Highly recommend this book for a thought provoking and relevant read.

This book got me so annoyed 😤
It’s about a white-passing black lady who gets into a relationship with a white man. All is good and they decide to get married. Except the lady’s bff is not happy about it at all and I’m kinda getting the vibe that the bff might be ready to ditch the entire friendship, you know?
An exploration into the British slave trade and its legacy, was very interested to see how it ended.. but it kinda fell flat.

Think this would work better as a play and not a book.

A really interesting debut dealing with the difficult area of racism.

Layla - a mixed race woman - finds out that the family of her husband-to-be used to be slave owners and that their family estate was purchased from the compensation payments after their slaves were freed. She has to decide what this means to her and her future.

To her friend, Sera, there is no choice but to not go forward with her marriage but for Layla things are not so clear cut. She remembers past examples of discrimination which she has chosen to ignore or explain away. But it is not until she travels to Jamaica that the debate is given more context and she can reach her own decision.

This book made me think - it was well written without preaching.

A book everyone should read!

It’s the start of the summer holidays and teacher Layla is going to spend hers marrying her fiancée Andy. Layla has never really questioned her heritage - black mum, grandad from Jamaica, and a white father who she never met. Her light coloured skin means that she hasn’t been on the receiving end of as much racism as her best friend Sera. However, when Sera suggests that Andy’s family made their money from slavery and Layla’s own ancestors may have in fact, been those very slaves, it begins a quest for knowledge and identity.

This was a really interesting story of discovery, about understanding your roots but not letting them define you. Ultimately, it’s about freedom - the freedom to make your own choices.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In “Dominoes”, we meet Layla shortly before her wedding. She is blissfully happy with her fiancée, who happens to share her surname, until her friend points out that there may be more to the coincidence of their shared name than meets the eye.

Layla is of mixed British and Jamaican heritage, and her concerns start to grow as she learns that it was customary in the 1800s for emancipated slaves to take the surnames of their former “masters”, meaning that her fiancée’s ancestors could potentially have owned hers. She goes on a personal quest to get to the bottom of their genealogy and must decide what their potentially shared past will mean for the present.

This is a fascinating, heart-breaking, but beautifully told story that stays with the reader long after the final page. The topics are handled sensitively and, though I would have liked more of the points of view of Layla’s friend and fiancée, I loved the moments with her family.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

When Layla meets Andy and he asks where in Scotland her grandfather comes from, she makes the tart comeback that he’s from that Scottish place, Jamaica, “The part that enjoyed sugar and rum and lots of overseas travel for a couple of hundred years”. But the link between their family names is no joke, and, darting backwards and forwards through about 18 months, with a few scenes in Layla and best friend Sera’s childhood and adolescence, against a background of the Covid lockdowns and the burgeoning of the Black Lives Matter movement, with Sera doing her research and sharing documentaries on slave holders, things begin to complicate and sour.

Suddenly Layla’s remembering all those times she hasn’t been “Black enough” for the darker Sera, and has been forcefully reminded of her privilege within the context of colourism and then things begin to go adrift in her family as she starts to hide these worries from her mum and sees her grandfather starting to become more frail (in an exciting moment, he lives in Erdington, Birmingham, where some of my in-laws live!).

While Andy is yet another Rich White Man in a relationship with a Black woman, he kind of needs to be for the plot, as he needs to have inherited money and privilege from decidedly shady and unpleasant dealings of his ancestors; I started complaining that he could be descended from someone in the Church of England but the paybacks there were not as high as for individuals once the slave trade was abolished, and to be fair, the book does mention those slave owners as well as the aristocratic ones. Andy makes well-meaning mistakes and his family do worse, including a discussion of the colour of any children they might have (cleverly echoing Sera’s claim that Layla will lose her family’s nose and curly hair by diluting her heritage further) but there is genuine modelling of learning, respect and willingness to change that makes the reader hope rather than just sigh.

Blog review published 14 March 2024: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2024/03/14/book-review-phoebe-mcintosh-dominoes/

I really enjoyed this.

By the time I got round to reading it I'd forgotten the blurb and so was surprised to find out was set in the UK. We hear so many stories of slavery in other countries it's easy to forget the impact of it on British cultures.

I enjoyed the relationship between Layla and Andy, and loved their first meeting, it was so realistic and relatable.

Overall this was a really thought provoking read and I imagine it being great for book clubs and discussions around it.

This was a really emotional and deep hitting book. It opens up a lot around slavery and racism, and it's a fantastic way to get people to think and research, as we feel the emotions throughout.
A very poignant story and I devoured it in 24 hours! Incredible work.
A huge thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Dominoes is a thought-provoking novel set in London and Jamaica. Layla, a teacher, is biracial and engaged to a white scotsman, however they both share the same surname. The story explores their possible shared ancestry and the impact of slavery on their differing histories. Its sensitively written, offering an insight into generational trauma and the continuing impact the past has on our lives - I enjoyed the characters and the vibrancy - definitely one I'll recommend.
WIth thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Layla meets Andy they quickly fall in love and are amused that they share the same surname. However after Layla’s friend Sera raises her concerns Layla soon begins to fear that Andy’s ancestors may have been slave owners who owned her ancestors from Jamaica.
This is definitely an insightful and thought provoking read, bringing together the history of the slave trade, Windrush and Black Lives Matter and explores the impact of the slave trade on today’s generation. It’s a thoughtful and sensitive exploration that will really stay with me.
However I do feel that the novel worked less well as a romance, I felt that there was a weakness in the characterisation and I did find Sera overly harsh.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
3.5 stars

Interesting read about trying to find out who you are when you thought you knew. Layla is a biracal Londoner who is on the count down to getting married when an intervention makes her consider her future. Layla hasn't thought much about her background, she knows she's Jamaican on her mum side and father's background is unknown apart from the fact that he's white. Falling in love with Andy who is white, shouldn't be an issue but eventually is.
What would you do if you found out that your fiancé's family were slave owners? And worse yet may have owned your ancestors. This knowledge takes Layla on a journey that will make her really consider her heritage, history and evaluate what she wants out of life.

Naturally family is an important theme in this book as is identity and love. Relationships are real, honest and you get the feeling that whilst the premise might be contrived- what are the odds of falling in love with a person with the same family name - the depictions are spot on. There are some characters I liked more than others and in some instances, it seemed as if they were written that way. Ultimately there was a decision to be made and Layla initially reluctant, started to identify what she valued in life. It's a hard decision to self evaluate your life but she did the work and reflection generally bring rewards.

My thanks to NetGalley and publishers for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting take on slavery and the british role in the slave trade by
highlighting the repercussions to the present generation.
I did find it slightly preachy at times, and didnt always believe in the characters, but overall a good read
Thank you to netgalley and vintage for an advance copy of this book.
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

So many things to digest, think and talk about after finishing this book.

When Layla, a mixed race woman, and Andy, a white man of Scottish decent meet, it's a fun surprise at first that they share the same last name "McKinnon". However when Layla's best friend Sera starts getting involved with Layla's and Andy's ancestors, things start taking a turn for the worst. A month before the wedding, Layla starts having doubts because how could she marry a man whose ancestors could well have owned and enslaved her own?

I appreciate that there is a love story in the book and that it's not the main plot, it's still a very much strong factor in it however it's more about friendship, about finding and loving yourself. My favourite character will definitely have to be Roy, Layla's grandfather, he's so full of life and joy and doesn't regret his life (loved him even more when he decided to head back to Jamaica).
I will say that Sera did annoy me, as much as she came from a good place to protect her friend, she definitely could've done it differently and with more sympathy towards Layla.

Phoebe McIntosh did a great job mixing love, friendships and family in 'Dominoes', so I will admit I did shed a tear or two.

I loved both the premise and the execution of Phoebe McIntosh's novel 'Dominoes'. Layla MacKinnon is a teacher whose grandfather came to England from Jamaica in the 1950s. When she meets Andy MacKinnon, they immediately develop a strong chemistry. But Layla's best friend Sera is wary of her going out with a white boy, particularly one from such a privileged background. We follow Layla and Andy's relationship over summer holidays leading up to their wedding, with frequent flashbacks to earlier points in Layla's life, during which Layla learns more about how her family history and Andy's may be intertwined and is faced with a huge dilemma.

This is a brilliantly readable romance story with well-realised characters. In particular, McIntosh captures Layla's feeling of being torn between her partner and her best friend, both of whom are complex and believable. This is coupled with a real depth of engagement with issues of racial justice, from the slave trade through the Windrush generation to Black Lives Matter. McIntosh treats these topics sensitively and seriously, and allows us to feel the pain of the racism experienced by many characters in the novel but avoids presenting Layla's dilemma as a zero-sum-game.

The novel this reminded me of most was probably Kiley Reid's 'Such a Fun Age', which also deals with a complicated relationship between a white man and a Black woman against the backdrop of a society that is grappling with racism. 'Dominoes' is a similarly compelling read. But whereas Reid's tone is often more satirical, McIntosh's writing becomes increasingly heartfelt, especially in the novel's final chapters, offering some optimism and hope for the future. Like 'Such a Fun Age', this novel deserves to be widely read because of the powerful questions it provokes. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

I enjoyed reading this book. Thank you to the writer, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read it