Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Personal Librarian

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

115 reviews

alissa_the_barista's review against another edition

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informative

3.0

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the_castle_library's review against another edition

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adventurous funny reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

This is a Historical Fiction based on real people and real historical events, but have been slightly manipulated by imagination and speculation from missing information. *If you aren't familiar with her story, this book does contain mention of child loss and the grief that comes with it.*

🗓️ The Morgan Library & Museum in NYC is dedicating an exhibit to Belle from Oct 25, 2024 - May 4, 2025.

Belle Marion Greener is an African American woman in 1906 trying to find her place in a very racial and segregated United States. At the time, one of the main careers for women was teaching, but she was not passionate about that, she was passionate about art, introduced to her at a very young age by her father, Richard Greener.

She starts off working at Princeton as a librarian while she sends money to her family in New York City to help them get by. Since their move to New York City from Washington D.C. when she was 11 or so, they have been passing as having a Portuguese heritage to pass as White, changing her name to Belle da Costa Greene to give the family a fighting chance at a better life. She sees an announcement that J.P. Morgan is building a personal library and is looking for a librarian to help him run it. Belle seizes the opportunity and applies for the job...and gets it!

How crazy and unrealistic is it for an African American woman to lend a job with THE financial tycoon, J.P. Morgan?! Again, no one knows her true ethnicity or identity, but to her and her family, this is an amazing accomplishment! She goes on to thrive in the world of art and owns her place in the world of high society. Internally, she faces so many challenges of hiding her secret, longing to be free of it without losing all she's worked for, and longing for love and a family she knows can never exist. My ratings for romance and spice are 💖/🌶️

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claireburr's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring 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

Stilted writing, especially in the fictionalized dialogue. However, the story is fascinating and the research and details are worth it.

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smreads24's review against another edition

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challenging informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

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booksfantasmic's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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katie_m26's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

Solid 4.5 stars for me. I felt like this book tackled race during an era that I haven’t heard talked about much. Belle’s story is one of strength, courage, and humanity. She went through struggles and triumphs that are displayed beautifully. While it is noted by the authors that the story is not 100% historically accurate, I felt that it was completely plausible and an extremely intriguing read

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andreabey's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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elissas_reads's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

Interesting historical fiction with flawed characters. It took a bit of time to get into but ended up becoming pretty engaging. I think it will make for good book club discussion!

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cptnstphy's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? No

3.25

This was a nuanced window into a challenging time period. Neat to learn about Belle De La Costa Greene and the art that fascinated her. I found it a bit slow and repetitive (sometimes it felt like every other chapter ended with a similar line repeating her name and a question of whether someone would find out).

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nic_theliterarylair's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It might be because I'm not used to reading historical fiction, but I first found this book very difficult to get into.

While parts of this story are certainly problematic (very questionable dynamics 🚩🚩), I feel happy to have had the opportunity to learn more about this truly inspirational woman.

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