Reviews

Blanche Among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely

olau76's review

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informative mysterious reflective fast-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? No

4.5

aderby's review against another edition

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  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

tigerb99's review against another edition

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5.0

Well, yeah, it's a mystery, but it's much better to just read the book and listen to Blanche's take on color, race, and relationships. Really. Read the book.

liesbethvv's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I'm glad I continued this series after waiting a bit after finishing the first one. I much preferred this sequel. It gripped me more and I thought the mystery was a bit more elaborate. I'm curious where Blanche will take me next!

brighthappyness's review

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3.0

As a mystery, it's not great...but the social commentary was still as good and important as it was in the first book. If you're looking for that then I would recommend, but as a mystery, the first book was a lot better IMO. Also this is like a minor spoiler (I don't even know if it's really a spoiler) but I don't think Moon is a Vietnamese surname and it bothers me a little that a Viet character decides to give herself that name. Maybe I'm wrong but it feels a little like Neely is treating Asian names are interchangeable, which may not have been her intention, but it sorta bothered me regardless.

jennylimmy's review

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4.0

An exciting mystery that explores anti-Black racism within an exclusive, well-heeled Black community. While the first in the series felt like a twist on an old classic (murder in a fancy mansion), this book contains a more unusual plot and more nuanced characters. In some ways, this made the book less satisfying — it’s less of a popcorn read, in which good is good and evil is very, very evil. But this book was also much more interesting than the first.

locdbooktician's review

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adventurous challenging funny medium-paced

5.0

shoshthemost's review

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informative inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

amberunmasked's review against another edition

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5.0

This story plays out like a soap opera. There are couples mixed of dark and light or black and white. Among them, there’s a gossip queen who ends up electrocuted in her bathtub. Mattie refuses to believe that the clues pointing to her godson as a killer are true. Blanche and Mattie find the box containing all the dirt Faith the gossip hermit had on people.

There ends up being four mysterious deaths for Blanche to solve and I couldn’t figure out any of them until she did. There was enough to second guess Mattie’s motivations and all the people of Amber Cove.

I wasn't fond of the way the character Blanche explained mental illness/suicide to her kids. I know it's got to be hard. As someone who suffers though, I just want others to know there is content about suicide and one particular line that I found insensitive.

As always, I love how Neely addresses race and religion. Blanche's new spirituality and ancestor worship felt warm and serene.

Neely is always direct about how dark Blanche White is and it being the reason she gave her such an ironic name. She refers to Blanche as “eggplant dark” so it’s important to understand the situation book two presents. Blanche’s adopted daughter Taifa is growing up fast and now she’s concerned about being too dark since the other kids of color in her school are light. Blanche takes a much needed vacation to Maine’s exclusive black resort Amber Cove. However, the resort was founded and considered the mainstay of the “light-bright” and wealthy. She is stared at by other African-Americans who give her plenty of side-eye glances just like when she was the only black child on a playground.

I have a much longer review at my site: http://www.amberunmasked.com/review-blanche-talented-tenth/

feliciar33ds's review against another edition

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4.0

2021 PopSuger Book List #4