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cherryblossomgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
moniipeters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Deportation
pisces1_1318's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Classism
lili_geek's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The meat of the book had some good story development, where one woman was finding her niche while trying the cope with the systemic racism surrounding her, one woman drowning in isolation due to outright racism she has to experience, and one woman who was constantly trying to make connections in the mist of all of her trauma. But the ending was simultaneously sad and frustrating, and I can’t say that I found it was a good ending. Only one character did my heart go out to.
I also did not like the fact that the main ‘villain’ was coded as ASD. The representation was poor and not accurate. To me it read like someone went to webmd- found the main symptoms of ASD then put all of it in one character.
Overall, the book was good enough for me to maintain interest to want to finish the book, but I would not recommend it to anyone. I felt like it had a lot of promise, but I was disappointed in the character decisions (not the last characters decision, that broke my heart) in the beginning and ending of the book.
Graphic: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Islamophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
thatenbyisisreads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, and Classism
lauravreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Each of these women has wildly different experiences due to their personal circumstances. As expected Muna has the hardest time finding employment, and receiving legal documents. However, they all share a similar experience of being a Black woman. They deal with racism, fetishization, and tokenization. These characters did not interact much rather they each had their individual storyline.
Out of the three women I found Kemi the most relatable character. As she moved to Sweden for work, her story focuses a lot on workplace racism, tokenism, work relationsips, and exploitation. I absolutely LOVED how professional she is! There were so many instances where I was just so proud of the way she handled certain situations.
I found Muna to be the most loveable character however her story was very emotional and serious. Her story highlighted inequities, classism, and international politics. Brittany on the other hand was a very frustrating character. Her storyline was very dramatic but lighthearted at the same time. Her story almost felt like a telenovela or sitcom. However, it did highlight fetishization and white privilege.
**Spoiler Ahead**
Jonny is another main character in this novel. As soon as he was introduced I noticed that he had a lot of the characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder. In the last 10% of the book, it is disclosed that he was indeed on the spectrum but undiagnosed and protected by his immense wealth. I feel that this highlighted the stigma regarding ASD as well as the ablism in society. I am glad that he was held accountable for his actions rather than excused for his ASD. However, I did feel that it fed a bit into the negative stereotype of people with ASD.
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
morganrasco0315's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Classism
kayyphan's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Abortion
aargot1's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Abortion, and Abandonment
Withheld diagnosis, fetishnerdy_reader1's review against another edition
Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, and Toxic relationship