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jackjcaseyv's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.5
Just as a warning, there is a lot of violence and extremely racist dialogue. The writer uses this to portray the darkness that can live within humanity, and tackles modern day problems.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Racial slurs, Murder, Violence, Drug use, and Cursing
rei_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, and Drug use
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Vomit, Addiction, and War
Minor: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Pregnancy
kitty03's review against another edition
challenging
sad
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
meroth07's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Violence
808jake_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Drug use
adriannarivard's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence
serendipitysbooks's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Racism, and Racial slurs
scarlatte16's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Gun violence
bek67's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
What the hell did I just read. This book did not make me happy, it did not give me any good feels. It was a challenging read. The language was appalling. I am not a prude and I cuss, but I just inwardly cringed every time the n word was spoken-and it was A LOT! Our protagonist (Mary Pat) is a racist through and through. I think, or at least I hope right at the end of the book when she was on the phone to Bobby, she realizes how racist she has been all her life. <She is describing how when you're a kid and they feed you all the lies. Who you can't trust and how that's just the Way. And as a kid you want to be part of the Way, so you embrace it and you dig in and then spread the same lies to your kids. Bobby tells her it's ok but her response is, "It's not!" So I hope she realizes the error of her ways even though it's too late for her./> This is not an easy read, but I did give it four stars because I read it very quickly-I need to know what happened to Jules, Mary Pat and the Butler crew.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Child death
cassiebartelme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
It’s been a while since I picked up a Dennis Lehane novel and this was was fine. It has his signature style of weaving a story with a large web of characters and I appreciated the setting against the Boston desegregation busing crisis of early 1970s but I ultimately felt like it was familiar territory…The Southie projects of Boston, Irish Catholics struggling to resolve “right vs wrong”, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, violence, the manifestation of parental love…
If you like what Lehane does in writing about Boston you will most likely enjoy this one. If you are looking for something different than pick something else.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Drug use, and Hate crime