Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

34 reviews

cecereads__'s review against another edition

4.5

This was so, so good. I had to stop myself after each story to savour it rather than just continue on bc it really was a page-turner for me. Really enjoyed the writing, and there was not a word out of place. It was spicy, sexy, direct, confronting, liberating, reflective, sweet and bitter and everything in between.
- I get why Peach Cobbler seems to be a general favourite
(though every story is quality and has a clear purpose)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Dementia, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

1.5

This was one of my most anticipated reads as I had heard so many great things about it. Unfortunately, I really did not end up liking it. This book literally made me sick to my stomach with some of the things that happened. Maybe I need to rethink my belief that I have no content triggers. As someone who normally loves family dynamics and conversations surrounding relationships, I struggled with this a lot. When I walk away from the book with this feeling, I always struggle to know whether or not the feeling is based in the fact that I listened to the book on audio rather than physically read it. I’ll never know the answer for sure because when I dislike a book so much, I’m not going to spend my time reading it a second time. I’m very happy that so many people really enjoyed this, bummer I couldn’t be one of them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Dementia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy

aishallnot's review against another edition

challenging relaxing

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility and Sexual content

Minor: Death

leslielovesbooks's review against another edition

relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Domestic abuse

savyelizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Dementia

clarabooksit's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Death, Violence, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

i didn’t think i could ever give a story collection 5 stars. this collection had absolutely no misses, a few were better than others, but none were even close to bad. i loved loved this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

gabichatslit's review against another edition

5.0

A really amazing collection of short stories that find black women of various ages grappling with the desires of their heart and the ways they come up against their faith practice/beliefs, and the teachings of the church. I was blown away by the poetics of Philyaw’s prose. How melodic some of these stories read. Also the way I was mindblown by the connection between ‘Peach Cobbler’ and ‘Instructions for Married Christian Husbands.’ The characters in these tales felt so real. My favorites include the two aforementioned stories, as well as Not-Daniel, Dear Sister, and How to Make Love to a Physicist. I’m really excited to read what Philyaw releases next, she is a wordsmith. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

clairew97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

quirkko24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Dementia, Grief, and Religious bigotry