autumnn_96's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The 2.5 stars is solely because the story in itself was interesting.
However, I truly did not like this book. It was heavily laced with trauma porn. But it was done in such a way that I think the author relied on it to make the novel enjoyable to read. However, the writing in itself is not very refined. The dialogue between characters reads in a way that a high school sophomore would write in a creative writing class. Definitely not going to read the sequel.
However, I truly did not like this book. It was heavily laced with trauma porn. But it was done in such a way that I think the author relied on it to make the novel enjoyable to read. However, the writing in itself is not very refined. The dialogue between characters reads in a way that a high school sophomore would write in a creative writing class. Definitely not going to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Racism
eyedoc's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Racism, Murder, Death, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol
mrsgreen22's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Racism
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault
d0505's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Sexual violence, Rape, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Gun violence
peachani's review
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Death, and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Racism, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Suicide
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Animal death, Death of parent, Dementia, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Sexual content
blcharly15's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Racism
sarah984's review against another edition
dark
funny
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
3.0
This is a book about a woman in the depression-era South who would do anything to protect her family and their secrets. I liked most of the characters and thought Maggie’s voice was great but the second half kind of dragged for me. I was hoping for more suspense in trying to cover up the murders but aside from one fateful situation everything kind of goes without a hitch.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion, Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Slavery
roshreviews's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
We meet the eponymous Mrs. Wiggins on the day of her wedding at the age of seventeen to young Hubert Wiggins, circa 1917. Both of them have secret reasons for getting married to each other, and as they are good friends, the marriage is more of a platonic understanding than a romantic bond. Things go as per their plan for a nice long time. However, about 20 years later, when various people and external circumstances threaten the unity of the family and her own personal propriety, Maggie Wiggins decides to take matters in her own hands.
The book starts off very well. Right from the first page, you get caught up in young Maggie’s emotional helplessness and can feel the strength of her character. She seems like a strong and determined young woman who knows what she wants and works hard to get it. Unfortunately, this same perseverance makes the book and the character predictable after the Daisy incident. (Not giving details here as it would lead to major spoilers.) While there are still some twists in the story, I felt that the plot became quite unconvincing in the second half, especially with the way some of the characters suddenly started behaving differently just to take the story ahead.
Maggie Wiggins as the lead character is excellent. It was great to see a morally gray character in a historical narrative. Most stories dealing with this time period have the goody-two-shoes leads and hence the stories don’t offer much thrill. But Maggie was a great example of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Her morality seemed to be dual-layered: one rule applied for herself and one for the others. For instance, she herself comes from a disgraced family and yet she looks down on another character for “coming from that lowly sharecropper stock.” Studying a character like Maggie would be an interesting experience. If only the other characters were as interesting!
A character-oriented book needs to have strong supporting characters too but this book rests almost entirely on the petite shoulders of Maggie Wiggins. The rest of the cast come and go as per the whims and fancies of the author. This results in many ignored plot holes and incomplete character arcs for quite a few of the secondary players of the narrative. The ending does redeem the book a little bit, but unfortunately for me, I could see it coming many chapters in advance and hence spoiled my enjoyment.
On the positive side, the book gives a great insight into the lives of black people in the racist South without being too clichéd about it. We get an inside perspective into how segregation and segregationist mentality created problems even beyond the official rules of white and black division.
I heard the audiobook of Mrs. Wiggins as narrated by Shari Peele and she did a fabulous job, Her narration brought Mrs. Wiggins to life with her enunciation and accent being spot on.
Thank you, NetGalley and Recorded Books, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The book starts off very well. Right from the first page, you get caught up in young Maggie’s emotional helplessness and can feel the strength of her character. She seems like a strong and determined young woman who knows what she wants and works hard to get it. Unfortunately, this same perseverance makes the book and the character predictable after the Daisy incident. (Not giving details here as it would lead to major spoilers.) While there are still some twists in the story, I felt that the plot became quite unconvincing in the second half, especially with the way some of the characters suddenly started behaving differently just to take the story ahead.
Maggie Wiggins as the lead character is excellent. It was great to see a morally gray character in a historical narrative. Most stories dealing with this time period have the goody-two-shoes leads and hence the stories don’t offer much thrill. But Maggie was a great example of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Her morality seemed to be dual-layered: one rule applied for herself and one for the others. For instance, she herself comes from a disgraced family and yet she looks down on another character for “coming from that lowly sharecropper stock.” Studying a character like Maggie would be an interesting experience. If only the other characters were as interesting!
A character-oriented book needs to have strong supporting characters too but this book rests almost entirely on the petite shoulders of Maggie Wiggins. The rest of the cast come and go as per the whims and fancies of the author. This results in many ignored plot holes and incomplete character arcs for quite a few of the secondary players of the narrative. The ending does redeem the book a little bit, but unfortunately for me, I could see it coming many chapters in advance and hence spoiled my enjoyment.
On the positive side, the book gives a great insight into the lives of black people in the racist South without being too clichéd about it. We get an inside perspective into how segregation and segregationist mentality created problems even beyond the official rules of white and black division.
I heard the audiobook of Mrs. Wiggins as narrated by Shari Peele and she did a fabulous job, Her narration brought Mrs. Wiggins to life with her enunciation and accent being spot on.
Thank you, NetGalley and Recorded Books, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Racism
More...