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laura_nel13'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: Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Slavery, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt
k_winchester's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
Call it 3.5???? I guess???
Tbh, very conflicted on how to rate this. I really enjoyed reading it overall - it drew me in, I really enjoyed reading so much of it and found myself thinking about it a lot while I wasn't reading it and staying up waaay too late to read just a little bit more. There's alot of beautiful parts and beautiful things here.
But... there were also a lot of problematic things (not even counting the extremely problematic things I've now seen about the book and author - which I didn't know before/somehow missed when this book first came out and was crazy popular). But problematic things that I noticed like... pretty well every female black character is described as being large/fat. (Like there's no other body type for a black woman? If one was described, I missed it.) The way the language was written/the flow for Abileen and Minny was initially a little hard to get into, but once I got it, it was unique and interesting HOWEVER when I realized the author was a white lady (again, didn't know this going into reading or if i did know once upon a time, have since forgot) and it felt reallllly not okay for a white woman to be doing that. There was also a bit of a white savior element to the story at several points, which again was reallllly not great to see. Among some other technically "smaller" things that nonetheless made me go "yikes".
Without writing an entire essay (...too late? π) there was *a lot* to appreciate, enjoy, empathize, laugh, have deep heartbreak over, and a lot of really good message that I can't discount - I actually loved a lot of it (hence the higher rating). BUT there were also a lot of Not Good things - mainly being that a privileged white lady is the one presenting them, which is sooooo YIKES - that I absolutely can't discount that either.
I guess... split the difference, and call it a tentative, super conflicted 3.5, I guess??? π π π
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Grief
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail
jg34's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Classism
kate_has_book_thoughts'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
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Excrement, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
Minor: Gun violence, Sexism, Police brutality, and Classism
ashybear02's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Excrement, Medical content, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
zealandrc'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: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Racism
Moderate: Gun violence and Hate crime
juliaathomsonnn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Violence, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
Minor: Death
brenna_b's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racism, and Toxic relationship
julia_rose'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Gun violence and Police brutality
Minor: Cancer and Toxic relationship