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magicinwords23's review
- 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
Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Murder
This story takes place over the summer of 1971, during a heatwave, in the housing projects of Southie, Boston. The city has decided to desegregate the white and black public schools and no one is happy about it. Mary Pat Fennessy is a single mother trying badly to keep her head above water. Having spent her life in the housing projects she is tough and doesn’t let too much get by her. One night her daughter Jules doesn’t come home, the same night a black kid is suspiciously killed mysteriously by a train in Southie. After a few nights and there is no sign of Jules Mary Pat becomes worried and starts doing her investigation, interrogating those who might know her whereabouts. Mary Pat’s interrogation does not go down well with Marty Butler, the boss of the city’s mob and his crew, and along with this, the recent killing of the black kid and the desegregation, it forces a shining beacon over Southie and Marty’s dodgy businesses. But Mary Pat’s whole life is her daughter and will not let anything stand in her way, not even Marty and his posse, to find Jules.rei_reads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy
meroth07's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Blood
808jake_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Small Mercies is set in South Boston during the tumultuous years of the busing crisis, an attempt to desegregate public schools by bussing students. In those times of heightened racial tensions a young Black man is found dead on a train platform in a white area, and a young white woman who is implicated in his death disappears. There is a lot more depth to the plot that that and a surprising amount of nuance. Lehane does a couple of things particularly well in this book. The first is his depiction of Southey, the predominant white, Irish Catholic working class neighbourhood, at the centre of the novel. He highlights the good - the strong sense of community - and the bad - organised crime, drugs and racism. The latter is particularly confronting, especially the sheer number of racial slurs the characters spew out. The second is his characterisation, especially of Mary Pat, mother of missing teen Jules. She’s a scrappy tough broad and certainly personifies the expression “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” if the woman scorned is an avenging mother. But Mary Pat is also memorable for a subtler reason and that is her changing position with regards to race. At the start of the novel she is clearly as racist as her neighbours, strongly objects to the desegregation of schools, and unthinkingly accepts and repeats racial stereotypes. But over the course of the novel she begins to acknowledge the falseness of racial stereotypes, the harm caused by racism, and her role in raising a racist daughter and contributing to Jules’s actions. In times of stress, pressure or when challenged she falls back to her racist ways. Still it is really interesting to see this evolution develop.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
llayaz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
clellman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Abortion
encryptedorchardpest's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide, and Kidnapping
Minor: Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War
lorit1227's review
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Murder
mysterymom40's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury