A review by shesheshelby
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

Overall, this was a pretty good book. I haven’t read much about forced sterilization and the infamous Tuskegee study, but both are so, so important to learn about. The book covers issues of saviorism, reproductive justice, and how we handle trauma. It made me reconsider a lot of how I think about poverty and my role in social work. It also got me thinking about racism in medicine - so much to consider! 

The main character annoyed me, so it was hard to give this book more than 4 stars. A main focus of the book is the main character’s flaws, but I wanted to see more growth from her. The main character’s growth is probably realistic, however!  

I didn’t like the feeling I had at the end of the book. So many things were left unresolved, but isn’t that true in the real world? There is still racism and racial disparities in medicine and people finding identity in “saving” others and forced sterilization and female genital mutilation, so we should be uncomfortable.
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