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bry_on_rye'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism
naniaunruh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I understand that this book can have value for Black British women who can feel seen and represented here but i feel like this could have been achieved and better by getting a diverse group of Black British female and trans authors together to write stories instead of having one person to try and do it all.
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Child death and Fatphobia
salemander's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
hannahbailey'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? Yes
4.5
Generally I prefer not to read character-vignette novels written in third-person. But this novel just goes to show that when done well, I can really enjoy them! I loved the distinct voice of each character and how they would be name-dropped in one chapter only to be the main character of the next one. It built such an interesting and creative narrative without leaving me feeling I didn't know enough about them–which is usually the case for me with character-vignettes.
Surprised to see some reviews stating the character dialogue and mix of poetry/prose was hard to believe and unrealistic. I completely disagree! The inner dialogue of the female characters was relatable and familiar. I enjoyed the exploration of womanhood and motherhood and how this intersects with race in Britain. It was an interesting and sobering read.
It was almost 5 stars, but there was a part where the character overcomes drug addiction by sheer willpower–they literally stay at home for a week without any form of support and somehow recovers? This didn't feel realistic to me especially given the vulnerability and young age of the character. That said, this was one of the chapters that really stood out to me in its exploration of body/gender dysphoria and trans joy.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism
mme_carton's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Self harm, Slavery, Excrement, and War
Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, and Infertility
brittenypark's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
However there are a few things that I disliked about the writing, the two main ones being the way the author writes young people gives all young people this characterisation of being over-sensitive and arrogant, the other is the structure for the writing with minimal punctuation and capitalisation which was a bit hard to follow if your distracted while reading.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Biphobia, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
kathrinellis'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? Yes
5.0
Also massive respect for finding an immaculate way of connecting so many stories and characters ( you’ll get the relationships after a while)!
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Grief, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Deadnaming
renjamin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Miscarriage
Minor: Eating disorder, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Mass/school shootings
zombiezami's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The one thing I didn't like flat out was the way trans topics were handled in the book. I thought it was great to read about Morgan's understanding of themselves and their loving long-term relationship. However, the other characters in the book repeated anti-trans talking points almost completely unchallenged. Given the growing anti-trans sentiment in Britain in particular, plus the fact that so few cis people claim to know anyone who is trans or be informed on trans issues, I felt that this was not a responsible way to frame these conversations.
Graphic: Biphobia, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Mass/school shootings
bodiesinbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia and Xenophobia