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bri_morgan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Minor: Hate crime, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
lexithelion's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage, Blood, and Excrement
or10n's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I've seen a lot of reviews saying that the white supremacist character got too much of a sympathetic narrative, but I don't really see that. I assume what they mean is that they dislike his role as one of the narrators, since he is such a flagrantly unreliable narrator. But "sympathetic" is not the word I would use to describe his characterization. He is an almost unbelievably cartoonish Nazi. Literally one step from having a Hitler stache for 99% of the book. Sure, he has a redemption arc in the last chapter, but I think that is more indicative of the author's wishful thinking than anything else.
There were aspects of white knighting in this book that I wasn't super keen on. Kennedy seems to get her head out of her own ass by the end, which made up for it a little, but you still have Ruth *needing* her, so I guess it just breaks even.
Ruth's sister is also portrayed as overreacting or sloppy or a bad mother frequently too, from both Kennedy's and Ruth's perspectives, which I think rings of respectability politics. There is nothing that she does in this book that is actually indicative of a bad sister, other than involving Wallace Mercy, but even that is shown to ultimately help Ruth! Justice for my girl!
From this review, it really sounds like I didn't like this book, but I did! I think it would have benefitted greatly from assistance from a Black co-author or a bit more research into commom unfavorable tropes, but the story overall was good. If you have the patience to get over the hurdles I mentioned, you WILL like this book.
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt
cheaploaf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Self harm, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Suicide