dtodd's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A gripping read that explores some interesting dilemmas with well crafted characters and relationships. I felt like the ending was a little anti-climactic, but it was nevertheless satisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Infertility
marigold82's review against another edition
emotional
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
I don't know what took me so long to read this book! Absolutely stunning writing. The true questions of what makes one a mother and what makes one a daughter are the core of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Racism, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism, and Death
nadia_luq's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Abortion, Car accident, Infertility, Grief, Miscarriage, and Racism
Moderate: Kidnapping and Fire/Fire injury
amorales107's review
emotional
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Abortion
mob333's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Abortion, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury
midnightmarauder's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
This is another book where I had watched the show/movie before reading the book itself, so, it took me a while to finish it, as I already know how things end.
The story revolves around a family in Shaker Heights, The Richardsons, whose lives are unknowingly shaken up after Mia and Pearl Warren arrive into town.
The Richardson matriarch, Elena, is a woman who has a white-savior complex, to say the very least. She's lived in the idyllic community of Shaker Heights her entire life, where racism is virtually non-existent and everyone gets along. She often feels as though it is her duty to keep things orderly and perfect, and to help those she sees as being in need.
This shows itself with the arrival of Mia Warren, a single black mother, who arrives with her daughter, Pearl. She allows Mia to stay in her rental property, seeing it as a "good deed" to the less fortunate.
As time goes on, Elena finds Mia's unwillingness to to talk about her past, threatening to her somehow, and.
Looking into Mia and her life leads her down a path of destruction, where she, , and gaslighting and emotionally abusing her friends and even her own child, leading the child to .
I don't think I've ever hated a character so much. I hated her in the Hulu miniseries, and I hate her even more in this book. The book is a great read, but can be hard at times because of how vitriolic Elena is.
The story revolves around a family in Shaker Heights, The Richardsons, whose lives are unknowingly shaken up after Mia and Pearl Warren arrive into town.
The Richardson matriarch, Elena, is a woman who has a white-savior complex, to say the very least. She's lived in the idyllic community of Shaker Heights her entire life, where racism is virtually non-existent and everyone gets along. She often feels as though it is her duty to keep things orderly and perfect, and to help those she sees as being in need.
This shows itself with the arrival of Mia Warren, a single black mother, who arrives with her daughter, Pearl. She allows Mia to stay in her rental property, seeing it as a "good deed" to the less fortunate.
As time goes on, Elena finds Mia's unwillingness to to talk about her past, threatening to her somehow, and
Spoiler
uses her journalistic skills to dig up information on Mia's lifeLooking into Mia and her life leads her down a path of destruction, where she
Spoiler
looks through the medical files of her old college roommate to get dirt to help a friend's custody caseSpoiler
pretends to be writing a story about Mia's brother and drives all the way out to her old home in Pennsylvania, to find out all that she can about Mia, instead of just asking herSpoiler
burn down the family home in revengeI don't think I've ever hated a character so much. I hated her in the Hulu miniseries, and I hate her even more in this book. The book is a great read, but can be hard at times because of how vitriolic Elena is.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
bendercath's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
The book is way better than the movie. So much more depth and more likable characters. I loved how this story wove together … flashbacks were handled well. The ending (which was also the beginning) was powerful. Also, I grew up in a place like Shaker Heights and this was chillingly accurate.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Racism, and Abortion
katsusho_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
- This was quite a rollercoaster. I enjoyed the plot, and liked how the end was carried out. However, I was quite tense the entire time, and think that the start was slow. Or maybe that was simply my anticipation on how it was carried out.
I really liked the themes of this novel. About motherhood, culture and righteousness.
Regarding the characters:
The author was really talented in making me, the reader, feel for these characters, whether it be anger or pity. Because at one moment I could feel entirely for the family, and another moment I could not careless about them, and actively wish them ill.
"She had never seen an adult cry like that, with such an animal sound. Recklessly. As if there were nothing more to be lost. For years afterward, she would sometimes wake in the night, heart thumping, thinking she'd heard that agonized cry again."
"'Is she--dying?" Izzy whispered. It was a ridiculous question, but in that moment she was honestly terrified this might be true. If a soul could leave a body, she thought, this is the sound it would make: like the screech of a nail being pulled from old wood.'
Those are by far my favourite quotes from this novel.
And let me go off on a silly little rant, starting off with the custody fight, defending the McCulloughs first:
Objectively speaking, having adopted an abandoned child in the streets means you have entire rights to them. If you give up a baby, you should have to commit to that decision, because that decision is not to be unmade. You shouldn't have to give up that child just because the birth mother wants them back, regardless of how desperate they are.
Now, for Bebe's argument:
It's ignorant how the parents are. Just because Bebe does not have a large house for the child does not mean she loves May Ling any less. Money should not be the qualifier for the love someone has for their child. Of course, it would be better for a child to live with a family with stable income, but now that Bebe has that, shouldn't she have the opportunity to have back her child. The parents don't recognise the privilege they have, inheriting land from generational inheritance, being safe from debt. And do they know how much Bebe loves her child? And how hard Bebe had tried? And in a last ditch attempt to keep her child safe, that she gave her child up for better opportunities? Although her child meant everything to her?
Also, I have grown irritated over the McCullough's insistance that race is not part of the matter during the trial, and believing that we should all be race-blind. When adopting a child of different culture, it is important to take in consideration of their roots and how they are supposed to implement it into their daily lives. I'm sure they might be trying hard, making the child try out Chinese food and placing traditional mural art on the walls. But "later when she's older" does not seem like a good defence when asked about how they planned to go about other heritage issues. Why later? Why not now?
Now as we get that out of the way, I want to start on Izzy, because I love Izzy. She is outcasted by her own family, because what? She does not follow through with the set of rules her self-righteous and strict mom asks of her? She isn't like the rest of her siblings, going out to parties and being social when she wants to sit her room and practise her violin? Before Mia's advice to go further beyond, all she was was a moody teenager that simply keeps to her and it a bit reckless at times. But everyone wants to act like she's a crazy lunatic that's about to rebel at any second simply because her mother treats her like a ticking time bomb. Izzy is passionate and kind, that's what she is. When she defended the girl in violin, it was an act of heroism, nothing of villainy like her mother would speak of. And even through her last act: "little fires everywhere", it came from a place of kindness, where she saw herself serving punishment to those who've mistreated Mia and Pearl and have taken advantage of their kindness. Izzy had a deeper connection to them than the rest of the Richardson family could hope for.
I really liked the themes of this novel. About motherhood, culture and righteousness.
Regarding the characters:
The author was really talented in making me, the reader, feel for these characters, whether it be anger or pity. Because at one moment I could feel entirely for the family, and another moment I could not careless about them, and actively wish them ill.
Spoiler
"She had never seen an adult cry like that, with such an animal sound. Recklessly. As if there were nothing more to be lost. For years afterward, she would sometimes wake in the night, heart thumping, thinking she'd heard that agonized cry again."
"'Is she--dying?" Izzy whispered. It was a ridiculous question, but in that moment she was honestly terrified this might be true. If a soul could leave a body, she thought, this is the sound it would make: like the screech of a nail being pulled from old wood.'
Those are by far my favourite quotes from this novel.
And let me go off on a silly little rant, starting off with the custody fight, defending the McCulloughs first:
Objectively speaking, having adopted an abandoned child in the streets means you have entire rights to them. If you give up a baby, you should have to commit to that decision, because that decision is not to be unmade. You shouldn't have to give up that child just because the birth mother wants them back, regardless of how desperate they are.
Now, for Bebe's argument:
It's ignorant how the parents are. Just because Bebe does not have a large house for the child does not mean she loves May Ling any less. Money should not be the qualifier for the love someone has for their child. Of course, it would be better for a child to live with a family with stable income, but now that Bebe has that, shouldn't she have the opportunity to have back her child. The parents don't recognise the privilege they have, inheriting land from generational inheritance, being safe from debt. And do they know how much Bebe loves her child? And how hard Bebe had tried? And in a last ditch attempt to keep her child safe, that she gave her child up for better opportunities? Although her child meant everything to her?
Also, I have grown irritated over the McCullough's insistance that race is not part of the matter during the trial, and believing that we should all be race-blind. When adopting a child of different culture, it is important to take in consideration of their roots and how they are supposed to implement it into their daily lives. I'm sure they might be trying hard, making the child try out Chinese food and placing traditional mural art on the walls. But "later when she's older" does not seem like a good defence when asked about how they planned to go about other heritage issues. Why later? Why not now?
Now as we get that out of the way, I want to start on Izzy, because I love Izzy. She is outcasted by her own family, because what? She does not follow through with the set of rules her self-righteous and strict mom asks of her? She isn't like the rest of her siblings, going out to parties and being social when she wants to sit her room and practise her violin? Before Mia's advice to go further beyond, all she was was a moody teenager that simply keeps to her and it a bit reckless at times. But everyone wants to act like she's a crazy lunatic that's about to rebel at any second simply because her mother treats her like a ticking time bomb. Izzy is passionate and kind, that's what she is. When she defended the girl in violin, it was an act of heroism, nothing of villainy like her mother would speak of. And even through her last act: "little fires everywhere", it came from a place of kindness, where she saw herself serving punishment to those who've mistreated Mia and Pearl and have taken advantage of their kindness. Izzy had a deeper connection to them than the rest of the Richardson family could hope for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Grief, and Infertility
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Classism
kbpfaulkner's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, and Infertility
jfb0622's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Abortion and Racism
Minor: Pregnancy and Miscarriage