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Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
2 reviews
sarah_bookshelf's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was such a warm embrace of family, food, magic and unconditional love. I'm a little older than the main characters (and the target audience) and I did feel like it didn't necessarily speak to my experience of teenage hormones and emotions, but it did some incredible things. I also couldn't really connect with the astrology and astrology-themed poetry in the book as it's just not a part of my life, but I can't fault the book for that. The magic of the stars is woven throughout. I love the acknowledgements and the discussion questions at the end that really give you a deep understanding of the Black context of this author and her work. Love love love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Racism and Forced institutionalization
lily1304's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
Audre and Mabel have a sweet little romance. I haven't read any YA in a while, and I missed it. I appreciate how Petrus describes both Minneapolis and Port of Spain with such familiarity and love. She can paint such loving scenes of family and friends supporting one another.
It's impossible for me not to compare this book to The Fault in Our Stars. Though they have a really similar basic premise, they each deal with love and death and grief in totally different ways. I relate much more strongly to the pessimism and spiritual doubt of TFIOS than the optimism of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them. Because I'm John Green trash, I know that he wrote TFIOS based on his experience serving as a hospital chaplain for teens with cancer - an experience which made him decide not to become a priest - and that really shows in Hazel's anger and despair and "what if God - I mean, the author, I mean, Peter Van Houten - is real and wants nothing to do with us?" Petrus being a Black woman already gives her a different perspective than John Green, and I wonder what life experiences inspired her.
I didn't expect New Age spirituality to be so intrinsic to the book - to the point that it's somewhere on the border between realistic and speculative fiction. It made me more mindful of my biases and attitudes about things like astrology and past lives - I have to constantly remind myself that my own religion would sound just as weird if it weren't the dominant religion in the United States. There were some anti-medicine/"food is medicine" vibes too, though, which concerns me a little.
Despite all that... I liked the ending.
It's impossible for me not to compare this book to The Fault in Our Stars. Though they have a really similar basic premise, they each deal with love and death and grief in totally different ways. I relate much more strongly to the pessimism and spiritual doubt of TFIOS than the optimism of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them. Because I'm John Green trash, I know that he wrote TFIOS based on his experience serving as a hospital chaplain for teens with cancer - an experience which made him decide not to become a priest - and that really shows in Hazel's anger and despair and "what if God - I mean, the author, I mean, Peter Van Houten - is real and wants nothing to do with us?" Petrus being a Black woman already gives her a different perspective than John Green, and I wonder what life experiences inspired her.
I didn't expect New Age spirituality to be so intrinsic to the book - to the point that it's somewhere on the border between realistic and speculative fiction. It made me more mindful of my biases and attitudes about things like astrology and past lives - I have to constantly remind myself that my own religion would sound just as weird if it weren't the dominant religion in the United States. There were some anti-medicine/"food is medicine" vibes too, though, which concerns me a little.
Despite all that... I liked the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content