Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?

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Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

24 reviews

aposthuma's review

hopeful inspiring 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

3.25

This book tackled a lot of heavy issues. Overall it was an enjoyable read and would definitely make a great book club read, but the present-day POV at the beginning really dragged, and I had a hard time keeping up with so many characters.

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repunzee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-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? Yes

4.25

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haley49's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Such a great story but the ending felt unfinished. There were so many questions for both timelines, I wondered why the author didn’t stick to one. The psychology of the main leads were understandable but their development progression and/or the supporting cast needed more space for that extra umph.

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everamplify's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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mal_reads_books's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective 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? No

2.25

This story had great potential, but it needed a better editor.

The writing was messy, disjointed, and oddly paced. The two storylines didn't mesh well, and the transitions between Kitty's and Elise's chapters were jarring. There was a lot more telling and info-dumping than showing. There were too many characters and subplots that didn't add value to the plot, especially in the present day. The first two chapters were the worst. I had to reread parts and was ready to quit the book early, but I stuck with it because this was the book club's pick of the month. Kitty's parts were more readable and interesting than Elise's, but still had the aforementioned issues.

I would have enjoyed this more had Elise's parts been eliminated. I understand why the author included the modern timeline, but Kitty's story would've been fine alone, with maybe an epilogue with the St. Johns. I also would have liked to see more of Kitty's acting career and later life and was disappointed her chapters ended in the 1960s. The ending felt rushed and anticlimactic, leaving a lot of loose ends.

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mdal26's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.5

I loved the concept, the story and the characters. Kitty and her friends were interesting and kept me engaged.

That being said, I wish that the storyline in the present had gone deeper - I forgot at times that the story had two timelines because there was a strong focus on the past, and the present felt disconnected at times. In particular, at the end, I wanted to understand the impact and implications of what had happened in the past on the present day characters.

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Its just kinda meh. The story itself is cool! Kitty is a black woman passing as white and paving her way in Hollywood as a white woman. Shes inspiring and clearly talented but unfortunately her character development later in the book falls flat. The whole end of the book feels rushed compared to the intricate stories about how Kitty made it in Hollywood. I think it would benefit from like 100 more pages of either present day Elise content or Kitty with Elise from her pov. They just seem very disconnected for a close relationship.

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