gobblingupbooks's review against another edition
4.0
My favorite story was Mattie! I also really loved Naylor’s lyrical, feverish prose in the prologue and epilogue.
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Alcoholism
Minor: Child death
artmommy2'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Rape, and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
midnightmarauder'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
5.0
There's Mattie Michael: a woman who had a baby out of wedlock and thought she could raise him well on love alone. He ends up
Spoiler
killing a man in a bar, forcing Mattie to put up her house as collateral for his bail, and he jumps bail, leaving her high and dry.Then Etta Mae Johnson: Mattie's best friend who has only ever known how to
Spoiler
use a man for all he's got, and when he can't give her anymore, he's gone.Following, Kiswana: a radical woman who fully embraces her black heritage and moves to Brewster Place for the purpose of finding the community she feels she lacked growing up.
Cora Lee: a lover of babies since childhood, whose obsession gets a bit too large and causes her to
Spoiler
have eight children by the end of the bookAnd finally, Theresa and Lorraine: a lesbian couple who often fight about whether or not they're different from everyone else, solely on the count of their sexuality.
All of these women come from backgrounds that are not nearly similar to each other. But, they all come to Brewster Place to run, essentially, from the issues of their past. It is seen as a clean slate from the beatings, trauma, and pain that they experienced in those times.
Each story fits together like a puzzle piece as you read along, and I personally found myself captivated by these women's strengths. It gives a reminder that pain can often bring people together, and that isn't always in a bad way.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Addiction, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, Abortion, Child death, and Religious bigotry
renareads's review
- 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: Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Death, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child death, Alcoholism, Abortion, and Murder
rlgreen91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
I'll hide this to avoid spoilers,
Spoiler
but one thing I was surprised about was my reaction to the residents' week after Lorraine's attack and Ben's death. Initially, I thought "Yeah, you should feel bad because you started all of this," and that isn't surprising. But almost immediately afterwards I felt this sense of disdain, which was what surprised me. It almost felt immoral that the rest of the book (which granted, wasn't much) focused on their feelings. Like why should we focus on your guilt and unease when your deliberate shunning and homophobia started all of this in the first place? Why is this about you? Even in Mattie's dream, they were still excluding Theresa - there's no mention of anyone even trying to reach out to here.Overall, this was a wonderfully written piece, and I'm looking forward to reading Linden Hills next.
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Death, Grief, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Child death, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse and Abortion