Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - Betty

A story of resilience.  ‘

Where I came from was a family of eight children. More than one of us would die in the prize-winning years of youth.’

Written by Tiffany McDaniel, the novel is based on her mother’s childhood in 1960s rural Appalachia. Betty, born to a white mother and Cherokee father, is the only Carpenter child who shares her father’s dark hair and complexion. For this she is relentlessly bullied; at school, in the community, and by her own family. Meanwhile the extent of tragedy - murder, rape, accidents, abuse - that befalls the Carpenter family is nothing short of rampant.

Deeply disturbing, Betty’s an unforgettable read. But both its brilliance and its shortcomings stem from the fact it’s a family memoir. Imagine writing an exposé of your family’s darkest secrets, with dear old Mum as the central protagonist. And she’s still alive, which is remarkable given her upbringing but tricky territory to navigate. The challenge lies in portraying the victims & perpetrators as anything other than heroes & villains and consequently some family members, Betty included, are curiously one-dimensional. Another issue is the freedom, or lack of, to deviate from the family script. Without a narrative arc, we get A Series of Unfortunate Events interspersed with brief moments of respite which typically focus on Betty and her father, Landon. The pattern became so predictable that after every heart-warming exchange I steeled myself for the next onslaught.

The brilliance lies in the author’s descriptive powers. Mum’s accounts of abuse include details so cruel and calculated there’s no doubting their authenticity. The sense of time and place is vividly imagined and the sheer resilience of Betty and her own mother Alka is inspiring. For me this was Alka’s story. Ordeal heaped upon ordeal and somehow she soldiered on.

The author evidently shares the same strength. Apparently the first agents she approached refused to believe that the women in her family had experienced such abuse. Thank goodness she persevered because memoirs as powerful and hard-hitting as this have the potential to break the taboos that force silence on so many girls and women.

Content Warnings

georginatomlinson's review against another edition

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dark 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

5.0

So beautiful but so heartbreaking. So many unexpected twists but such loveable characters. This really showcases the power of writing, I was made to feel anger, shocked and sad. I cried several times reading this so giving everyone a fair warning.

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hcowie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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yawningtiger's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

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celinechdh's review against another edition

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it was too hard to read

reading this book broke me: it was so harsh and beautiful and sad and depicted the horrible truth, without covering any of it. the diff between the magical world of betty’s father, his connexion to nature, to realness and beauty, and the horror of real life was so wonderful

it was really worth reading, though really hard to
tw: everything

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becca_thegrimreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

A haunting yet beautiful story about family. Betty Carpenter is the daughter of a white mother and a Cherokee father. Growing up Betty’s father would tell his children lyrical and magnificent stories about their heritage, while her mother conveys dark and gruesome stories to Betty about the world for women. Betty discovers dark secrets in her family, while also discovering herself.

This is a book not for the fainthearted. There are many disturbing and horrific scenes of sexual abuse and horrific trauma. There were many times when I had to put the book down to recover, or more likely to cry. I wish this book had trigger warnings on it before I had started, as more secrets were revealed it grew painful to continue reading. Betty becomes the keeper of these secrets, and the burden rips her of her innocence and happiness.

The writing was beautiful and created vivid images that made this book exquisite. Her father’s stories are wonderfully told, and create a strong bond with his children as well as the reader. The racism that Betty and her family receive however is vile and appalling. Getting to the end of this book took a lot of determination with so many emotional time bombs throughout the book. It is a book that will haunt many, and it is not one I will forget soon.

*Trigger warning: sexual assault, sexual violence, rape, emotional abuse, physical abuse, incest, racism, sexism, etc.

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