Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn

10 reviews

kharcourt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

nefariousbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense slow-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

this was such a surprise. I picked it almost randomly for a reading challenge and it grabbed me by the heart and squeezed until my chest hurt before I could realize what was happening.
I ugly cried. I relate to Patsy and Cicely's story and seeing the culmination broke something in me. my heart doesn't let go either. and this was a very painful reminder of that.
above all, this books is so honest about so many *ugly* things. the reality of being undocumented, the illusion of ingrained motherhood, the social pressure on queerness. I appreciate the book for all of that so much.
it's not an easy read, but it's one that stays with you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Deportation

annalu's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Classism

bluberrybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Animal death and Miscarriage

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

Evocative, but haunting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Outing, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Abortion, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Colorism, Gentrification

annaledbetter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

lucyf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

rigbees's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Lately, I've been skeptical of trauma novels recommended to me, particularly if the person recommending them to me doesn't share an identity group with the author. This isn't because the trauma novel is bad or that the story shouldn't be shared. Rather, I'm skeptical about the way in which we consume trauma for entertainment. Even when an author is discussing painful experiences, the audience is not always there to listen.

Patsy is a novel that's about trauma and (eventually) healing from it. The novel follows Patsy, the title character, as she leaves her daughter in Jamaica and overstays her travel visa to the United States. Patsy experiences difficult challenges and lacks community support, both in Jamaica and as she gets established in NYC. The bulk of the book is about the way she struggles through life, managing to continue moving forward but failing to thrive. However, by the end of the novel

she starts to find healing through her relationship with Claudette, when she is able to embrace aspects of her identity that she's suppressed since being assaulted as a teenager.

Alongside Patsy's story is woven in the experiences of the child she left behind, Tru. 

This book is well-written. I am glad that I read it, as it talks frankly about difficult experiences of racism, homophobia and trauma. It is written, in my opinion, as a novel aimed at those who have experienced similar circumstances. I think that it's a very good novel overall, and one that enriched my life in reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Hate crime

gagne's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

christiereads23's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This was a beautiful novel about motherhood, identity, immigration, love, and finding yourself. Patsy makes the hard decision to leave her five year old daughter Tru behind to finally have an opportunity to live with the woman she has loved since she was young. However, things don't go as planned, and the novel follows Patsy and Tru over 10+ years as each is struggling with their identity and with the feelings of guilt or anger they have at leaving and being abandoned. I did think that the beginning was very slow, and it took me a bit to get invested. However, the author did a wonderful job of describing the aspects of Patsy and Tru's lfie so that you really felt as if you knew them. Even if I didn't agree with some decisions that were made, I understood why it was necessary for the character to do. The ending, after spending so long seeing Patsy and Tru struggle with their relationship, was rushed, and I would have loved to seen their relationship build up instead of getting a "flash-forward to the happy ending" that we did get. Overall, this was a beautiful story with characters you will just fall in love with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Rape