Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

21 reviews

scenic92's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

kayleighcanread's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and Bullying

Minor: Rape and Cannibalism

divafern's review against another edition

Absolutely maudlin. Without going too far into it, it tries to do too much. The writing is interesting in some places and yet liberally peppered with laughably bad metaphors and tired stereotypes. Just see the list of content warnings to get a feel for the book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

becks4books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

politicaloatmeal's review against another edition

the writing seems really nice but the vibes are too problematic for my taste woops

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

irisfromthevillage's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism

epiphylium's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

This is my favourite non-fiction novel that I have ever read. Tiffany's writing style is absolutely stunning, a mixture of prose, poetry, and metaphors that I just adore. There was no unnecessary words, everything felt like it was there for a reason and I've revisited this story a few times now, and I feel the same if not stronger about her talent every time.

The premise of the novel, to put briefly, is it is one of the hottest summers to ever be recorded in this town and Fielding's father, invites the devil to come. When his invitation is accepted, the devil comes to town not with horns and a tail, but in the body of a 13 year old black boy.

Some of my favourite things about the book includes the way it was set up. It is narrated by an older Fielding who is reflecting on parts of his life post 1984, which helps propel the story of that summer forward, leading up to everything that happens. You can tell that something has happened, as Fielding is so broken and guilt ridden that you can tell he has experienced a lot of traumatic events, but we don't know what they are until we progress through the novel.

This isn't a long novel, only a little over 300 pages, but the author covers so many important issues: racism, homophobia (during the AIDS outbreak in the 1980s), child abuse (incl rape, but mentioned briefly), religion, mob mentality, agoraphobia. Although set 4 decades ago now, these issues are still so prevalent today and it's something we should all care about and actively try and use our privilege to advocate for.

I can understand that because of the heavy themes in this novel that it is not for everyone, and like a previous reviewer, oczerniecka has said "It is hard for me to express how I could love a book that is depicting the most heinous aspects of human nature. This story moved me and showed me all the different sides of the issues that are brought up in the story. The characters affected by the events of the summer are complicated, and you cannot say if they are good or bad. Because when you choose to brand someone as bad, you are throwing off all the good about the person. And the same go with marking someone as good, you may not see the evil that is within the person. Read this deeply moving and sad story; this may shatter you and make you weep, and sometimes books should do just that."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

sarahasyouwish's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This is the story of a man in an Appalachian town in Ohio printing an open invitation for the devil to come visit him and what happened when the devil accepted. You may (or may not) be surprised to find out that rather than the devil bringing evil with him, he simply exposed the evil that was already deeply rooted in that town. This is a literary novel with absolutely beautiful writing and characters who refuse to stay on the page. They absolutely come to life along with the sweltering heat in this novel, and they will most certainly burrow a place into your heart. I know they did for me. McDaniels is an amazing writer with a gift for telling eternal stories about small town people and the big world truths they live. She has quickly become an all-time favorite author of mine. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Vomit

lorylor's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

rendarm's review

dark 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? Yes

4.0

This book is horrifying. And mesmerizing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism and Abortion

Devil, evil