Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - In Every Mirror She's Black

3 African and African American women struggle to find a place for themselves in the insular homogenous culture of Sweden. Calls into question the idealized Nordic paradise: the “happiest place in the world” may not be so happy for those of darker hue.

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shedasortareads's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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fenemiestolovers's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

Whew…what a gut-wrenching picture of what it can mean to be a Black woman today. The characters are imperfect and human and just trying to do the best they can with what they know and what they have. I definitely understand it wouldn’t be for everyone and I can’t speak to the accuracy or quality of representation. And yet, I won’t forget this one anytime soon.

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bookobsessedmommy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

The sadness and foreboding permeated this book. Even when the ladies were happy, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. A wholly aptivating storytelling style that wouldn't let me look away.

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siobhanward's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

This book had so much potential but I felt like I was just left empty-handed. I loved the idea of these three women and their stories as immigrants in a nation that is not notable for its love of outsiders. However, the execution just made me too sad. I just didn't love the direction this book went in - it was such a unique perspective and some parts were great, but it just didn't hold up for me.

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lili_geek's review against another edition

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emotional tense slow-paced

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

This book follows three black women from different backgrounds who are all impacted by the same man. Three out of four characters were incredibly unlikeable.

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.

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