Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

20 reviews

shoohoob's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Found this book randomly through my storygraph recommendations and I was absolutely floored! I’d happily read a full length story for each of the stories in this book. 

Some of the stories did feel a little unfinished when they ended. I feel like all of them could have used a little more closure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Cursing, Dementia, and Infidelity

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

i didn’t think i could ever give a story collection 5 stars. this collection had absolutely no misses, a few were better than others, but none were even close to bad. i loved loved this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Cursing, Dementia, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Bullying, Classism, Domestic abuse, Infertility, and Sexual assault

gabichatslit's review against another edition

5.0

A really amazing collection of short stories that find black women of various ages grappling with the desires of their heart and the ways they come up against their faith practice/beliefs, and the teachings of the church. I was blown away by the poetics of Philyaw’s prose. How melodic some of these stories read. Also the way I was mindblown by the connection between ‘Peach Cobbler’ and ‘Instructions for Married Christian Husbands.’ The characters in these tales felt so real. My favorites include the two aforementioned stories, as well as Not-Daniel, Dear Sister, and How to Make Love to a Physicist. I’m really excited to read what Philyaw releases next, she is a wordsmith. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Cursing, Sexual content, and Homophobia

readingtotravel's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

clairew97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

lilybearillini3's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Beautifully written and every story is immersive and compelling.  It's hard to pick a favorite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Abortion

yourariesbby's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Cursing

kimveach's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is about sexual relationships, not just the kind most Christian churches would like you to have. The writing was excellent, and you got to know these characters despite the short stories.

The narration was good, but it could have benefitted from having more than one narrator. While I enjoyed listening to her, it felt like it was just one character telling all the stories, which is not the case.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny

12bookslisa_read's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

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

2.0

This book took me totally by surprise.  I was not prepared.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, and Cursing

rather_b_reading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

I really don't know how to rate this. Just like any Short Story collection some stories were stronger than others. Also some of the stories were very short with others long, so I wasn't able to get to know those characters as well. I really liked the intergenerational aspect of many of the stories, but wish more of the issues of the church were explored besides sexual lives. I appreciated the Jael story for that reason. But the writing is undoubtedly good and I will check out future weeks from Philyaw

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content

Moderate: Misogyny, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion and Murder