Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn

32 reviews

zoenelson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beautiful book exploring the intersectionality of themes related to poverty, gender, sexuality, immigration, trauma, family, and grief. Check the trigger warnings for your own well-being. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Abortion

kharcourt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

missmarguerita's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Grief, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Classism, and Deportation

chanteld's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Personally triggering but so good. I can't wait to see what Dennis Benn creates next. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

nefariousbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this was such a surprise. I picked it almost randomly for a reading challenge and it grabbed me by the heart and squeezed until my chest hurt before I could realize what was happening.
I ugly cried. I relate to Patsy and Cicely's story and seeing the culmination broke something in me. my heart doesn't let go either. and this was a very painful reminder of that.
above all, this books is so honest about so many *ugly* things. the reality of being undocumented, the illusion of ingrained motherhood, the social pressure on queerness. I appreciate the book for all of that so much.
it's not an easy read, but it's one that stays with you.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Deportation

thelaurasaurus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Following the story of Patsy, an undocumented immigrant in New York, and her daughter, Tru, left with her father and his wife in Jamaica, this book isn’t an easy read but it is an engaging one. It shows life in all it’s messiness. 

 

I enjoyed the way in which the story developed, with snippets of backstory being shared every now and then, adding a completely different element to something which I thought I had understood. Because of this, I found that my feelings about Patsy and her behaviour changed as the book progressed. 

 

Another thing which I appreciated was the depth of most of the characters - with a couple of exceptions (maybe just one), I don’t think any of them can be considered entirely good or entirely bad. Some of them do terrible things, but also have redeeming qualities. 

 

The book raised a lot of questions for me about the immigrant (and specifically undocumented immigrant) life and status. I think this was exacerbated by Cicely’s character feeling underdeveloped for me. We very rarely hear her voice, so most of what we learn is through what Patsy reads into a situation. It’s clear what Patsy expected to happen when she got to the US, but what did Cicely think was going to happen? In a book which ties most things up quite neatly at the end (which I loved), I didn’t ever feel like I got closure on this. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

laurenw22's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Miscarriage

annreadsabook's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What would you lose to pursue love? To pursue being the truest version of yourself? And what is the “truest version” of yourself, anyway?

These are some of the central questions in Patsy, Nicole Dennis-Benn’s powerfully-written novel that takes place both in rural Jamaica and New York City. When Patsy, the titular character, decides to leave her young daughter Tru in Jamaica to pursue her childhood friend and love Cicely, both Patsy and Tru are left to contend with what it means to be loved and to make space for oneself in the world. Further complicating things, when Patsy arrives to New York, is Cicely’s newfound sense of place in the world—one that might not have space for Patsy.

There is so much to love about this book. Dennis-Benn has some really fascinating commentary in here about womanhood, race, and identity—as a poor, queer Black immigrant in New York City, Patsy comes to understand the ways in which Blackness is coded and understood in different ways. We see her deal with difficulty being taken seriously due to her race and skin tone, but on occasion, non-Black people open up to Patsy more readily because she is quickly understood to be an immigrant (e.g., not one of those “lazy Black people who ask for too much”). And through it all we see Patsy yearning for just a bit of care and love in a world that is meant to wear Black women down.

One of the aspects of this book that intrigued me most was this obsession with whiteness and aspirational whiteness. At almost every turn we’re met with Black folk who glorify green or blue eyes; Black folk who take up residence in glitzy mansions and put down other Black folk in the name of “progress.” Aspirational whiteness is a plague around the world—Patsy can’t escape it even by crossing the sea.

And there’s the question of what we owe ourselves vs. our children. While I was frustrated and torn up by Patsy’s decision to leave Tru in Jamaica, I loved that Dennis-Benn uses Patsy to explore ideas of selfhood and motherhood.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Abandonment

Moderate: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse and Self harm

klawrence1206's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The content was interesting and very thought provoking. The author has a beautiful style to her writing. But for me, parts were disjointed and jumped around between places and points in time. Her editors did an injustice to this book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Classism

gidget_selby's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Suicide attempt