Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

23 reviews

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

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

studydniowka's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? No

4.0

Bardzo sprawnie napisany zbiór opowiadań, kilka z nich jest naprawdę bardzo poruszających, zdarzyło mi się płakać. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, and Violence

josie2k's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

lexi_bear's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.0

Lovely mix of short stories. I especially love how the author explores different relationships between women like mother daughter, friend to friend, and sister to sister. My fave was the story about peach cobbler. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

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

readingtotravel's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

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

glitterdeww's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

Excellent collection by Deesha Philyaw that drenches each story in raw emotion. These women are fully "in the world." 

(I'm also really in my feelings about craving a peach cobbler. 😅)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Homophobia

atamano'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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment