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samanthaleereads's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Abandonment, Racism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Death, and Racial slurs
Minor: Medical content
bmpicc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Is it about Desiree & Stella? Stella & Kennedy? Kennedy & Jude? Jude & Reese? And what about Desiree & Early? Let us not forget the family matriarch and her battle with Alzheimer's. The twins were lost in the background.
I appreciate the important issues the author presented to the reader and you know I love a generational family saga, but I wish it had been shared through the twins perspectives and not their children. I wanted to know more about the twins and how they felt. About each other, their relationship, their daughters and their daughters choices.
“The only difference between lying and acting was whether your audience was in on it, but it was all a performance just the same.”
"At least Peg stood for something, fought for something. She went to war with the university over everything: paid maternity leave, sexist faculty hiring, and exploitation of adjunct labor. She argued about these things even though she had no children and had already secured tenure - she argued even though her advocating wouldn't benefit her at all. It baffled Stella, protesting out of a sense of duty, or maybe even amusement."
Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death of parent and Dementia
carly_the_librarian's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
mepereyra6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Minor: Domestic abuse, Bullying, Classism, and Racism
lavaly_1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
Moderate: Physical abuse
20sidedbi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Classism, Racism, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse
micaylabean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Really felt for each of the characters. I think it's interesting to think of how we each have parts of ourselves we probably would like to leave behind sometimes. It's in the way we hide in the grocery store when we see someone from high school. Always feeling like parts of our past are secrets we have to try and hide or just don't want to confront. Not a perfect comparison as we're probably not hiding such big secrets. There's also the reminder that there are people who still want and love us even for the parts we would like to discard.
I did feel there was some disjointed story telling towards the end in regard to Jude's relationship. Some of the timeline presented felt contradictory.
Also, I've been really into books with strong themes of family. Good families, bad families, estranged families, close families... this has a little bit of all of that.
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Racial slurs
oliviapincin's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Dementia, Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Dysphoria, Death, Grief, and Bullying
Minor: Sexual assault
emjames22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
juls0899's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs