Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Butter Honey Pig Bread

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Butter Honey Pig Bread by francesca ekwuyasi

18 reviews

heatherrrr's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

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elizlizabeth's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

It's a very cinematic book, you can imagine the characters and situations being adapted to screen in a very enriching way. The narration voice is real good in conveying bias and immersing you in the head of each character, the downside in my opinion were the dialogues as they felt too snappy and light in a way that took out from the story. In the same vein, some passages especially on Taiye's story were too concerned with getting woke points for the sake of it; it would've been nice to see the "social justice warrior" aspect play a more active part on the story rather than have it be an accessory in the background. I liked the ending (? it isn't particularly happy but I wouldn't say it was tear-wrenching which was nice given the trend in contemporary lit lately.

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ecn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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tlaynejones's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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savvylit's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

Butter Honey Pig Bread is an arresting exploration of trauma and the strain it puts on family ties. The story smoothly jumps between the perspectives of Kehinde, Taiye, and their mother Kambirinachi. Each of these women is a wholly realized and distinct character. Ekwuyasi genuinely excels at characterization - whether it be one of the three protagonists or one of their friends or lovers. At times, it felt like reading a memoir; that's how vivid Ekwuyasi's characters are in Butter Honey Pig Bread.

Another incredibly appealing aspect of this book is Ekwuyasi's sensual descriptions of food. Taiye is a chef and the recipes she creates are all described in decadent detail. Not only did those descriptions make me hungry, but they all worked together for a greater purpose: to display the incredible healing & connective powers of good food. Ekwuyasi lovingly captures the particular way that comfort food can invoke joyful memories for broken relationships.

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peachani's review against another edition

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challenging 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? It's complicated

4.5

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mmccombs's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

This is a book where I know it’s probably one of the best books I’ve read but I also just could fully love it for some reason I can’t really put my finger on. But it really has everything I love: a family saga marred by tragedy; vivid descriptions of place and food; beautiful and lyrical prose. These characters were really compelling, and I loved the journeys they took to get back to each other. I don’t think the audio performance really did it for me, I wish I read a physical copy to spend more time with it!

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