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ruthmoog's review against another edition
4.75
I laughed aloud at this, Barrington speaks as you might to a friend. And it's emotionally intimate as Barrington lets us in on his big secrets.
I enjoyed it a lot, and the narration is great. Looking forward to the TV series.
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Cursing
Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Alcohol
Minor: Violence, Outing, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Drug use
Knife violenceb_easelbub's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Hate crime, Outing, Sexism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Colonisation
Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Transphobia, Racism, Ableism, and Addiction
lynxpardinus's review
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, Homophobia, Infidelity, Grief, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Mental illness, Alcohol, Sexism, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Classism, Lesbophobia, Slavery, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Physical abuse, Racism, Colonisation, Violence, Suicide attempt, Outing, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
Minor: War, Fatphobia, Excrement, Ableism, Gun violence, Dementia, Vomit, and Transphobia
laedyred's review
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Infidelity
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Transphobia
partly_stars's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's an interesting portrait of the a dysfunctional marriage of a certain generation of Carrabiean migrants. Both Barry and Carmel are so bad for each other and often times just unplesant people but atcthe same time the author treats tgem with kindness and humanity to see where they are coming from
Wvery character is distinct and feels so grounded in their experiences that is so different to what I know. Evaristo does a great job of showing how people are shaped by life and how there are both good and bad thing in them without falling into stereotypes or clichés
The beggining of the novel was quite chellenging for me - it was often times unplesan read. Bad things about Barry and Carmel just getting worse as they are in their toxic marriage - it feels like a contras to the end of the book that starts feeling liek a breath of fresh air after years of simmwring in the same stiffling atmosphere. The novel is also written in what I'm assuming is Black/Carrabian vernacular which I was unfamiliar with and since English is my seco d langauge, was a bit of a learning curve but it gives the narration an unique and personal feel.
The whole novel feels very groudbed in the experiences of certain generation and type of people and tackles a lot of topics very gracefully and in an organic way
I also liked that we had chapters from both Barry's and Carmel's perspective even if Barry is the protahonist. I also liked how different the writing style in Carmel's chapters is. It feels very personal to her and completely dofferent to Barrys which fits well with themes of this novel
Anyway its 5am and ive been reading it the whole night after getting tobthe part when everything started falling down and changing so they could get out of their 50 years long status quo by the end
Very flawed charcaters but also compelling and i sympathised with them while also seeing and calling out thwir flaws. Feel very human
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Hate crime
Moderate: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Misogyny
shoshthemost's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Incest
laurataylor's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Death
novella42's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Classism
Minor: Dementia
maelikesbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Alcohol, Infidelity, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming and Outing
Minor: Classism and Suicidal thoughts
sakisreads's review
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Racism