Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Mädchen, Frau etc. by Bernardine Evaristo

70 reviews

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’ll write down more thoughts later because I need to sit with this one for a bit but WOW!!! I really can’t put into words right now just how much I loved this book. The writing, the brilliant character studies, the exploration of nuanced topics over multiple generations… It reminded me of the magic I felt when discovering great playwrights in my school years and being awed by another persons ability to understand the fundamental truths of being human.

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this book. All of the characters feel very realistic, with traits that are both admirable, and flaws that make them feel human. Although the book tackles topics of race, ethnicity, nationality, and how the three play into each other; of gender, sexuality, poverty and ageing; it never feels like a mouthpiece through which the author is trying to push their point of view. It simply feels like an account of different people living their lives and existing and how the politics of life affects them. My only criticism, which is why I didn't give it 5 stars, is that I feel like some stories never concluded. Although the ending wrapped up certain aspects of the book, there were other stories that I hoped would resolve and never did. Whilst I understand that that is just how life sometimes is, I didn't quite feel fully satisfied when the book ended, which is a bit of a shame.

I listened to the audiobook rather than read the book, which I would highly recommend as I think the narrator did wonderfully at making the characters feel alive.

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challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Multiple prespectives conecting into one story.
My only problem was that it drags on just a little in the middle.
Overall very touching and well written.

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is beautifully complex and yet somehow simple at the same time. The way the book follows different characters through their lives and shows how they all link up is so very clever. The characters were so real and tangible and their experiences so different and yet so universal. I really enjoyed the way the book was split up into chapters and then into characters.

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emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved this book. Very good character read about many different people - I like how mundane it was while still being very interesting. Felt like a good chat with a friend where you talk about people you knew well once & their families.

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved this book. I thoroughly enjoy a book when it makes me think and pushes me to put it all together. Here we follow the stories of multiple Black women living in the UK, some from birth to their later years. It is told in a very peculiar style, which for me called back the way we remember stories from long ago and/or the way we recall our own memories, with only certain parts standing out in our memory while others are very vague. 

This book is full of really difficult topics, from abuse, abandonment, racism, bigotry, etc., and it is also full of a lot of heart and love between women. I loved the inclusion of trans and lesbian characters since they were the main characters in their respective stories. 

I'd recommend this book if you like multigenerational stories, books where you have to do the work and piece the story together, and if you like diverse books full of conversations surrounding various aspects of feminism. 

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