pkc's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Car accident, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, and Police brutality
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I find a second-person narrative always takes a few chapters to get used to. But this lent itself so well to the story; it gives events an inevitability, like the central couple only had so much control over what was coming.
The whole thing is kind of wistful, and the two main characters (whose names we never learn) lead each other in an intense dance filled with emotion and inner conflict about growing up black in London.
I love the showcase the book gives to black art and music, and how that inspires these characters and their relationship. It forms a counterpoint to the racism that's endemic in how they are seen (or not seen), and shows how important it is to continue championing black voices. A really powerful book.
Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Drug use, Murder, and Racism
emfield's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Racism and Police brutality
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, and Mental illness
afion's review against another edition
4.0
That is what you are being framed as, a container, a vessel, a body, you have been made a body, all those years ago, before your lifetime, before anyone else who is currently in your lifetime, and now you are here, a body, you have been made a body, and sometimes this is hard, because you know you are so much more.
Graphic: Grief, Police brutality, Racism, and Murder
dannythestreet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, and Medical content
isaospina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I felt the anger, the pain, the trauma.
The prose flowed like water and told a powerful story that allowed me to further understand what it means and feels like to be black in this day and age.
At moments I felt like my pain and anger where being shared, as a woman on latin America life is not easy and the anxiety that bled through the words felt too familiar.
The entire book felt like a beautiful show with its own soundtrack and as a music lover I appreciate how every song was perfectly framed in the story.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Police brutality
Minor: Murder
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Death, Police brutality, Murder, Racism, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content and Gun violence
thatenbyisisreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Death
Moderate: Mental illness
susanavieira15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Murder
ktkeps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content