Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Die Mütter by Brit Bennett

54 reviews

dee_hzz's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

kiarra_s's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

Reading this book felt like watching a stage play. The story is told from an interesting third-person pov. I appreciated how it was written though, especially with hard themes (suicide, abortion).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Abortion, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: Infertility and Rape

elissaoj's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.75

Engrossing and thoughtful and heartbreaking. Wouldn’t have wanted to read sooner than now, the mother part would have been too hard. Made me reflect and think. Didn’t love the end, felt hurried and too unfinished. Can see Roxane Gay’s critique of the collective voice as forced, felt it in part but not all of the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infertility, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

anh_off's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Abortion

hmih's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Grief, and Pregnancy

rachelfayreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lwl000's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

As a big fan of The Vanishing Half, I expected great things from this one too. I love Bennett’s writing and the beautiful, poetic statements she sprinkles through this novel. Unfortunately, for me, the storyline and the characters just fell flat. I found the characters stale and without much depth; most of all (and this is odd since I usually love some moody/sad characters) they were just all so dang wan and depressing. I didn’t see any character development or growth here, and I felt we ended up right where we started: with judgement from others and guilt/regret around certain life decisions.

I found the treatment of the themes of abortion and sex/infidelity, through the lens of righteousness/piety of a church community, to also be tiresome and unoriginal.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

bearnecessities's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide, Abortion, and Abandonment

Moderate: Infertility, Grief, and Death of parent

awkwardllama's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Suicide, Abortion, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Racism

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

This was a well-written story that, unfortunately, wasn’t for me. I can recognize the great prose and themes in this novel, which I thought Bennett crafted with great care. I think it’s safe to say that I just wasn’t the target audience. I didn’t find the book dull—the main characters really spoke for themselves and had a lot going for them—but I wasn’t especially invested in what was happening either.

Something that I’ve also been trying to parse out but don’t have the words for was the discourse around abortion in this novel. I could have misinterpreted something, but I got the impression that Bennett was taking a rather critical approach to abortion that seemed to weigh down on one of the protagonists, Nadia, significantly. I don’t know if this is a result of the setting (a Black community with strong Christian affiliations), but I really wasn’t sure what to make of it.

All-in-all, an interesting enough book that I think will resonate with some (especially for those interested in books engaging with motherhood and relationships); I just wasn’t one of those people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Rape