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amgarrido's review
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, Rape, Pedophilia, and Police brutality
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
natashad's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
megelizabeth's review against another edition
3.5
I went into this thinking it was a straight non-fiction book, whereas really it's more of a memoir, though I didn't end up necessarily minding that. The narrative style is very open and engaging, and there are a lot of excellent points made and discussions opened up. Although I strongly disagree with Brathwaite with regard to private schooling, and feel that her exploration here needed much more nuance, I otherwise gained a lot of valuable insights, and I liked that a lot of topics and life intricacies are covered.
However, I found the narrative to be structured in a very disjointed way, and the many strong points made weren't done so in the most cohesive way. There are also direct contradictions on occasion, and I quite often found myself having to reread parts to try to make sense of what was currently being talked about.
I'd never come across Brathwaite before, so I'll definitely be following her socials and keeping an eye out for what she does next, as her work is important and she has a lot of great things to say. This particular book just didn't quite end up hitting the mark for me, but it was still a worthy read overall.
Graphic: Rape, Abortion, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Racism
booksjessreads's review against another edition
4.5
One thing I really enjoyed about it was how Brathwaite lets her personality shine through, and continually reminds everyone that she is a headstrong and resilient woman and this comes through so strongly through her decisions and her writing style. Brathwaite also shined light on the harsh realities of being a black mother in Britain. She conveyed these realities in such a raw way and it was engaging, yet horrifying, to read about racism in Britain through the lens of motherhood. I have read a lot of non-fiction by black authors and their personal experiences with racism from their home countries. They have all been eye-opening in their own way, but I think this has been by far the most influential of them all.
Graphic: Racism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Medical content, Abortion, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
rcsreads's review against another edition
3.75
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I first started following Candice on Instagram during the make motherhood diverse campaign as I was looking for mummy pages that weren't posh women in Breton stripes! A problem of representation covered in this book as Candace discusses her difficulties with her mental health and finding mum friends after the birth of her 1st child.
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As you would expect if you follow Candice, this was very easy to read. It's quite autobiographical but in a way that highlights the issues Black mothers face that women of other races might not. Although thanks to the Tory government we can now all enjoy substandard NHS care and near death experiences during childbirth!
She occasionally feels the need to really justify her choices as though she expects the reader to be questioning her and I feel like her defensive stance makes me question it more.
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As always with books on Black Britain, Glasgow gets a shout out for managing to be full of super stabby white boys! We're here to show that knife crime is a poverty problem not a race problem and putting messages on fried chicken boxes is not helpful!
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Recommended for all the parents and the medical professionals.
Graphic: Pregnancy and Racism
Moderate: Sexual harassment
chloscosycorner's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Abortion, Rape, and Sexual assault
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Racism, and Rape
Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, and Mental illness
evekstanley's review
5.0
Graphic: Racism and Sexual assault
sophcart_'s review
5.0
Graphic: Racism
azarab's review
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Drug use and Toxic relationship