gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
- 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
Narrated by full cast
Unabridged
A Carrie retelling, with a podcast narration style, focusing on racial identity and segregation.
It was a nice suprise to have the podcast style as I wasn't expecting that and I've been enjoying the use of this tool or podcasts being a theme in my reads this year (e.g. Sadie).
Reminded me also of Anna dressed in blood as well as Carrie.
This was such a moving and distraught story of a young girl forced to suppress her nature (in multiple ways) under the cruelty of her father and the racist, segregated town she lives in. It felt so dated in the way the views of the white people held on the Black community and demonised them and the themes about equality in this day and age was painful and poignant.
Just when you hope Maddy can catch a break, all hell breaks lose at an awful happening of police brutality and that's when the Carrie retelling really shines.
This was a fantastic character study and discussion of deep rooted hatred of the 'other' with well done supernatural elements.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Murder, Religious bigotry, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence
passionatereader78'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: Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Fire/Fire injury
talonsontypewriters'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
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Blood, Gore, Death, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Bullying, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Gun violence, Grief, Sexism, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Death of parent
Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Cancer, Vomit, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, and Animal death
itsheyfay's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, Abandonment, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death
kindredspirit7'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Violence, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Confinement, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
augustinedreams's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Hate crime
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Gun violence, Cursing, and Alcohol
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Racism, Car accident, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Violence, Sexual content, and Vomit
caseymac's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Blood, Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Gore, Vomit, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror
Moderate: Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
tifftastic87's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I wanted this to be a five star, but I think it missed a few key points for me.
I really loved the idea of a new twist on Carrie, bringing in an issue that is in our forefront right now and especially in 2020 when it seems like this book was written. I really appreciated the telling of a story about how mean high school girls can be to each other from the perspective of a female writer, but I think the story fell short here. There clearly was intersection between her being a woman and her being bi-racial that given the length of the book could have been used much better.
The main reason I say this is in Carrie the tension in Carrie's home is created by her mother being afraid for her purity and uses her religion heavily to keep that. She believes that any form of sexuality, including puberty, is sinful and is extremely abusive from that angle. Likely because of how she was treated by Carrie's father. In The Weight of Blood, Maddy lives with her father who treats her as his personal housewife because he clearly is one of those men who "long for a simpler time." He only watches old movies, listens to old music and is against new technology. This is never explained really, except that he does it to protect Maddy. He believes if he can teach her to dress and act like *white* homemakers from the 50s, he can protect her from what people will think of her being mixed. My confusion is that Maddy's femininity doesn't play that big of a role in her character development, except that it gets Kenny's attention. We get the root of all of Maddy's father's abuse and it is
Spoiler
because she has the same powers his mom hasKenny is convinced by his girlfriend Wendy, who very much has a bit of white savior in her as well as "I don't see color" kind of attitude. She is also very hard to like, even though she gets the best redemption arc, because she is the type of girl who just does everything to have the dream future with the dream guy. Her life revolves around Kenny and Kenny's revolves around football. Kenny shows the most character growth in a way, because he starts trying to push back against his life being determined for him but that is only because he falls for Maddy. And he falls for her because she is "not like other girls." Which is not just me being snarky, it is literally written in a book published in 2022. I have no words, I thought we were past this or at least trying to be. There is also quite a bit that reminds me of those 2000s nerd to hottie movie transformations, because he starts noticing how pretty her eyes are when she starts to not wear glasses and then we get talks about her small frame and thin figure when she starts wearing skirts and "men's undershirts." Honestly, I am kind of sad that Jackson didn't bust out a blue chambray workshirt on us. I think the interactions between Kenny and Maddy and the insta-loviness was just a little too tropey for me.
I also really did not like the explanation we got at the end from Maddy's father on her true roots. It really felt like we were supposed to excuse his abuse of Maddy because he had his own trauma. Abusers often abuse, I don't think we need to be reminded of this and be given a seen where we are supposed to feel pitty for him.
Maddy did a lot of what she did for Kenny, which is from my memory a change from the original story. Carrie did it for herself. She may have had feelings for Tommy and she lashed out from being tricked, but its not the same as what happened here, I mean
Spoiler
Maddy only snapped out of her grief enough to survive because she was told Kenny was aliveI will say, Jackson can write. I appreciated her flow and descriptions the pace was nice and characters were developed, even if I didn't like the direction they were developed in. I really hated Jules, right down to her court testimony. I very loudly made a grumbled exasperated sigh noise of disgust when reading that part actually. I was actually upset with what happened to Kenny after the incident in the barn, and it wasn't all just in reaction to the type of event it was. I genuinely cared about him. I do wish we would have got more of his mother and sister, I liked them. His dad is a dick though.
Graphic: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, and Gore
trayslays's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Racism, Bullying, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Racial slurs