Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Betty by Tiffany McDaniel

55 reviews

michelles_book_nook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

⚠️ CW: racism, violence, bullying, homophobia, murder, mental health, suicide, abortion, incest, rape, sexual abuse, paedophilia and child death ⚠️ If you're looking for a beautifully devastating and complex coming of age story then this one is for you! Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a white mother and a Cherokee father, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit in the rural town of Breathed, Ohio, is one of poverty and loss, of lush landscapes and blazing stars. Despite the hardships she encounters, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination. And in the face of everything she witnesses, including the horrors of her family's past and present, she discovers an escape in writing. This book was everything I hoped for and more. It is so tragic, but also so beautiful and I don't really know how to explain what I mean by that right now but if you've read this you'll understand. Betty is the most incredible character who will stay with me for a very long time. A lot of the themes running through this book really hit hard for me and I definitely needed some tissues to get through it, but the resilience Betty built through her own will and the teachings from her father about life in general and her Cherokee ancestry were just so incredibly powerful. To put it simply I adored this book and it may easily be my favourite of the year. Overall, I highly recommend this book but please check the CW's before diving in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child death, Violence, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Racism, Murder, Bullying, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Abortion

madisone's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Incest, Sexual assault, Death, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Blood, Homophobia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Classism

booksillremember's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It's as lyrical as it is lifelike, as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, full of love and kindness and the most harrowing events I've ever read about. It hits hard, even more so given it's based on McDaniel's real family story. (Go to tiffanymcdaniel.com for more background information and pictures).

The father-daughter bond is one of the most beautiful I've seen, yet I was annoyed with the father for his 'delusional treatment' of reality - until it started to make sense. 

I'm glad McDaniel finally got to publish this book after 20 years of fighting for it and being rejected because a 'boy protagonist would sell better'. And I'm grateful to the women who shared their stories.

This book would have been 5 stars for me if it had been 150ish pages shorter. It was quite hard to get through because it felt repetitive to me. I understand that this repetition might just be there to capture the nature of growing up financially poor and naturally rich in the Appalachians.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Racism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Violence, Incest, Self harm, Rape, and Sexual violence

strangie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Child death, Suicide, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Self harm, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Grief, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Death

Minor: Pregnancy, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

apsharpley's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Incest, Child abuse, Addiction, Grief, Sexual violence, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Death, Child death, Animal death, and Domestic abuse

velma's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

PLEASE READ THE CONTENT WARNINGS! This book is really graphic, I didn’t want to finish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Homophobia, Violence, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Abortion

escsteger's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book ripped my heart into a million pieces and it also is just divinely beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Incest, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Violence, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Outing, Rape, Animal cruelty, and Sexism

Moderate: Drug abuse

ladystardust1979's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

_moonsongenthusiast_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Homophobia, Bullying, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Incest, Child abuse, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, Animal death, Murder, Blood, Death, Abortion, Drug use, Classism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Suicide, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Fire/Fire injury

katebrownreads's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Violence