Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Do What Godmother Says by L.S. Stratton

5 reviews

hollowspine's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

Told in two perspectives, one in the present day and the other during the Harlem Renaissance. Both involve talented young black women and their talent being noticed by rich white people who promise to compensate them, but instead trap, tokenize and attempt to control them. The narrative switches back and forth between the two characters, revealing plot points in the past, then letting us bite our nails waiting to see how the present day narrator will be affected and what twist will happen next. The end twist/reveal was pretty easy to guess, but I didn't mind, it felt like a battle won for the narrator (and the reader) when she gets there.

This would be good for readers who like creepy thrillers that comment on the current and past history of racism in the United States. If you liked When No One Was Watching by Alyssa Cole, Lakewood by Megan Giddings, We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Stalking, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Violence, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use and Suicidal thoughts

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

halfass_reviewer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I loved this book. And while I felt like at times it was drawn out (especially at the end), this was still an amazing thriller novel. It kept me guessing all the way until the end about who killed godmother, and trust there wasn't a shortage of people who should've murdered her, which is why the ending really disappointed me. Also, the murderers and their relationship was weird and I honestly would've liked the book even more if they just left the mystery of who did it out in the open. Honestly my biggest gripe about the novel was that last chapter. Would've been so much happier if I just skipped that one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Minor: Incest

avm917's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

First the cons:

• Unironic use of “favs” not faves, not favorites. Not my cup of tea linguistically. 
• A very uncharitable depiction of mental illness. Untreated mental illnesses can obviously be debilitating but this is so gratuitous and it does feel like it’s used as an excuse for a lot of questionable choices Shanice makes. The generational trauma and mental illness can play into the story (and obviously make Shanice second guess her reality) but something about the way her mental illness is portrayed really doesn’t sit quite right with me. 
• I think I saw just about every twist coming except two. Obviously you also feel vindicated when that happens, and surprises without breadcrumbs and foreshadowing are often ridiculous, but I wanted to be a little more surprised. 
• Because of said gratuitous use of “I’m mentally ill!”, a lot of Shanice’s choices and how on earth she’s made it this far in life baffled me. 

Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book. The tension was consistent and the shifts between perspectives/timelines made sense in the context of the story as a whole, rather than shifting for the sake of shifting. I could’ve easily devoured this book in a day or two. The writing was compelling and definitely made it easy to read quickly. This was a good choice to reintroduce me to thrillers in my adult reading renaissance. 

I read this book through a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Abortion

kaelizaco's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism