Reviews with content warning for Racism - Girl, Woman, Other

Evaristo takes 12 characters whose lives intertwine in some way or another and writes a book that is so unified, continued and connected. This book is so well written and the characters are so realistic that I wondered which part of them was real and which part fiction. The characters are lovable and those who have called them unlovable may have done so because they see themselves in these characters across all the emotions they have depicted.

Informative and reflective. This book has taught me so much about women and how resilient we are; how tragic our lives have been and continue to be but how we continue to rise each time. It is a reminder of how society has tried to define us for centuries, across generations and geographies, and how hard we try and succeed to take charge of the narrative.

What I love most about it is how diverse it is within the diversities. This isn't specific to cultural, but spans across the LGBTQ+ discourse. These conversations are so important and there's a lot of learning that is still needed. There's a lot of cancel culture happening due to lack of knowledge and this book has the pote tial and opportunity to fill the gap.

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brittcoxon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-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

Wow. A book that gives you a glimpse into so many lives. A unique look at the intersection of being LGBTQ and black. A complex set of stories, all interconnected, visiting friends and family, current times and historical. Some characters stories are harder to read than others, this book deals with some very difficult topics, ones that are sadly very familiar.
By the end of the book I felt I knew all our characters so well, their lives, influences and ambitions.

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siebensommer's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

she’s mum’s emotional caretaker - always has been, always will be. it’s the burden of being an only child, especially a girl, who will naturally be more caring.

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mbs76's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.25

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biffhooper007's review against another edition

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Too depressing.

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isabellamarg's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Girl, Woman, Other was a beautiful and gritty tapestry of storytelling spanning generations and crossing borders. Each of the characters within this novel is well-written and we get to intimately know each character within the span of a chapter (albeit a long chapter). The connections between characters fleshed out the story and I loved that we hear about different people from others perspectives as the story moves along. This made the world of the novel very rich! We see the reality of human life in which nobody is perfect; humans lie, cheat, and have regrets, nobody is perfect. We fully see the intersection of race, class, gender, and sex as well as the variation in thinking and limitations generationally.

I think my favorite part of this novel was seeing the characters all come together in the same place in the final chapter creating a full-circle moment for the reader where we see people forgive others and other's misgivings. The epilogue in this novel was also a really sweet treat for the reader with lost connections being found (no spoilers here).

I loved how each section of the novel was broken down into a trio of characters that were somehow related or knew each other. There were a lot of mom and daughter plot lines as well as teachers, siblings, friends, etc. The punctuation and capitalization of the writing honestly did not bother me. I thought it created a poetic flow to the writing that I almost preferred for this type of storytelling. Overall, masterfully written and wonderful book that spans generations of black women and their families. The cohesive exploration of friendship and love while also highlighting injustice in our world made me think deeply about how we carry ourselves through this world.

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