Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

49 reviews

christinaanna's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Infidelity

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Racism, Terminal illness, and Dementia

Minor: Abortion and Murder

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

apaudioreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

This was the first set of short stories. I have read in a while, and the first that I had culturally identified with in a long time. These are the stories of our mothers and grandmothers and aunts. There is a sense of familiarity and a sense of sadness that comes with a familiarity. Stories about women in love you still desire to fit into socially acceptable, sexual orientation so they may be cast out by the only families they've ever known. Stories of women already cast out by the loved ones in favor of new lives in different spaces with people they want to build families with. And stories of little girls they grow up too fast and the families that didn't protect them from the men who would eventually meet unfortunate ends. No matter who you are if you've grown up black or southern or both you have found yourself in one of these stories in ways that may hurt so guard yourself as you must. But also in ways that you may feel comforted by. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Dementia, Abortion, and Death of parent

dcfelk's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective fast-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

5.0

Tender and critical. Didn't expect to love it like I did. Especially a short story collection! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Dementia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content, Violence, and Abortion

buttermellow's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Dementia, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Physical 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

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Dementia, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol

grandpas_farts's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This short story collect kept getting so much buzz. The buzzing finally became loud enough I took a bite. Happy I did! This book may be titled Secret Lives of Church Ladies, but scripture doesn't really play into the stories. This is not a "preachy" book and more of a cup of tea.

In each short story we explore the lives of various women, throughout various decades, places, life stages, and situations of life. Anyone who has grown up in/around church culture will know some of the people in a few of these stories. This collection shines a light on what happens when the gossipers hang their laundry out to dry. He who is without sin and all of that!

My favorite short story was "Instructions for Married Christian Husbands" because it connected to "Peach Cobbler". Here we have a daughter (did we ever get her name), that never wanted to turn into her mother. As we see from the article or Facebook post, whatever it is she made, she has ultimately turned into... her mother.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Dementia

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Abortion, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

jdamae11's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

5.0

Wow I loved all of these stories! I’ll be reading anything Deesha Philyaw puts out after finishing this collection. She covers the complexities of mother-daughter bonds, sexism, religion, spirituality, sexuality, and Black life and Black womanhood with so much care, authenticity, and nuance. There were a few times I would go back to reread lines or just pause on a page to appreciate what was conveyed. Adding this to my favorites shelf for sure. The collection opens with an absolute banger with “Eula” and although I really enjoyed all the stories, “How to Make Love to a Physicist” had me screaming crying throwing up it was so amazing. Gunna have to go back and reread that one a few more times. So thankful to the author for putting out this lovely collection!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Dementia, and Religious bigotry