Reviews

If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais

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alread's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lillybee's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

nancidrum's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was a clear 5 stars! The writing! Ooh, the writing! This is a newer author and I will definitely be reading her other book.

Marais is not afraid of tackling all the tough subjects...racism, AIDS, rape, adoption, family relations, same sex love, gangs, poverty, justice, etc. Sometimes when I read books where there are so many hot topics, I want to scream, "Enough already!". I mean, it just seems it's being done for the sake of covering everything. Not true with this book. It all just fit.

Such a wonderful book. It is heartbreaking, yet hopeful. I totally fell in love with the three women and Marais did a phenomenal job of giving distinct voices to all three. So many dimensions. To top it all off, it was a real page turner. The chapters are all super short, which makes it so tempting to read "just one more". It's been awhile since I've read a 430 page book in two days!

On a personal note, we were fortunate enough to travel to South Africa in 2019 with a friend who grew up there. This made the book all that much more relatable to me. There is a glossary in the back for the African terms, which I recommend you turn to as you come to unfamiliar words.

shoshomyeza's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

saracook's review against another edition

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5.0

This may be one of my favorite books ever! Such a great example of forgiveness. Brought back great South African memories....

jaqofmosttrades's review against another edition

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4.0

The author is taking on a lot in this one: post apartheid SA, sexual assault, the abuse of power within the Catholic Church, LGTQ+ lives during the the AIDS epidemic, and more. Undeniably well written, but also dead theatre.
Maybe just not my cup of tea. Heavy handed moralism made the characters less real for me.