A review by bek67
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

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.
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