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uselesspirateraven's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Police brutality
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Miscarriage
Minor: Death, Infertility, and Classism
graceanneee'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Vomit, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer, Fatphobia, and Excrement
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
typesetprint'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
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Racism
yyyykkll's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Racial slurs
Moderate: Cancer and Miscarriage
bookaholic_kp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
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? 🙃) 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??? 😅😅😅
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
tiaroseshang'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Excrement
kierakarlenzig'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder
griminycricket'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
4.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Terminal illness, Blood, and Sexual harassment