Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

44 reviews

or10n's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring 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? Yes

3.75

 I gotta admit, it was really hard to start this book. I won't sugar coat it, there were parts of this book that were difficult to read for sure. However, now that I have finished it, I think the payoff was just worth it. That being said, I think that the slurs could have been censored and still gotten idea across. That aspect just rubbed me the wrong way.
I've seen a lot of reviews saying that the white supremacist character got too much of a sympathetic narrative, but I don't really see that. I assume what they mean is that they dislike his role as one of the narrators, since he is such a flagrantly unreliable narrator. But "sympathetic" is not the word I would use to describe his characterization. He is an almost unbelievably cartoonish Nazi. Literally one step from having a Hitler stache for 99% of the book. Sure, he has a redemption arc in the last chapter, but I think that is more indicative of the author's wishful thinking than anything else.
There were aspects of white knighting in this book that I wasn't super keen on. Kennedy seems to get her head out of her own ass by the end, which made up for it a little, but you still have Ruth *needing* her, so I guess it just breaks even.
Ruth's sister is also portrayed as overreacting or sloppy or a bad mother frequently too, from both Kennedy's and Ruth's perspectives, which I think rings of respectability politics. There is nothing that she does in this book that is actually indicative of a bad sister, other than involving Wallace Mercy, but even that is shown to ultimately help Ruth! Justice for my girl!
From this review, it really sounds like I didn't like this book, but I did! I think it would have benefitted greatly from assistance from a Black co-author or a bit more research into commom unfavorable tropes, but the story overall was good. If you have the patience to get over the hurdles I mentioned, you WILL like this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

evipefi's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Antisemitism, and Medical content

katreena's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kszar's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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

Honestly one of the more moving books I have read. Absolutely incredible job writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Grief

kades26's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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

4.25

This book is a crescendo. Slow. Fast. Slow. Fast. It puts you on the edge. As a biracial woman it made me uncomfortable, but there is growth in discomfort. Character growth you're not expecting. Themes that leave you thinking. The ending was a bit flat in comparison to the rest of the book. I wanted it to be drawn out a bit more. I haven't reading another Jodi Picoult book but I liked her style. I listened to the audiobook on Libby and really enjoyed the narrators. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Transphobia and Antisemitism

nscheuermann's review against another edition

I love Jodi Picoult's writing and her book topics. I love how her writing makes me truly question every single opinion I thought to be true. But this one was just too hard for me to read. The white supremacist POV made my stomach churn and the 28% I did read literally ruined my day. I just don't have it in me to ruin a minimum of 3 more days despite how bad I want to know what happens and how bad I want Ruth to get her ending she deserves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Antisemitism

izzy_v's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring 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

4.25

I was hesitant about this book in which a white author focuses on racism, but I am very glad I read it. Much of the commentary feels a little “Racism 101” and much simpler or less groundbreaking than I’d like it to be. However, in remembering that this book came out in 2016, before the Black Lives Matter movement and a lot of the most recent racial awakening, coupled with the fact that I think the target demographic is white people who have implicit biases despite firmly believing they’re not racist, I think the author did a good job for what she was trying to accomplish. I enjoyed the story and getting invested in the characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, and Murder

crobinson81217's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

This book was extremely well written and hard to read at times due to the nature of the topics in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

nicoleolander's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy

inirac's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy