Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Mothers, by Brit Bennett

19 reviews

sparklefarm's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I don't know how to review this book. I've been sitting with it two days after I finished. I read Bennett's The Vanishing Half first, and found it arresting and unputdownable, which was not necessarily the case for The Mothers, although I truly enjoyed it. I think when reading books I tend to want them to have "a point," or a true conclusion. The Mothers didn't; it had the literary equivalent of a song fading out. No less effective, but it left me wanting. I wanted to know the details about whether our characters were okay, did they heal, did they find what they were looking for? But I suppose that's also the hallmark of a good book. I've kept thinking about Aubrey and Nadia and Luke, because Bennett made them feel real. She's so good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Abortion, Suicide, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Medical trauma

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

This was such a good read, I really liked the exact amount of plot we were given, we got a good slice of life. Somehow managed to include loads of heavy topics without being too triggering. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Grief, Infertility, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

whatcassiedid's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed most of this but the ending just didn't hit right for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Suicide, Abortion, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

iheartapolloxxi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/injury detail, Death, Abortion, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Infertility, Sexual violence, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

madeleinebay's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Misogyny, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Religious bigotry

beccabookworm's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/injury detail, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Suicide

Moderate: Infertility and Rape

Minor: Drug abuse

mali33102's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

3.5

I found this book to be a very interesting character study of what one event can do to completely change the course of people’s lives. I liked the aspect of the Mothers having an almost omniscient voice sprinkled throughout. Overall it wasn’t spectacular, but it was still emotionally moving and intriguing.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Suicide, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Toxic relationship, and Injury/injury detail

jojo_'s review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Abortion, and Death of parent

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Injury/injury detail, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, and Racial slurs

nebraskanwriter'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? Yes

1.5

The characters were all awful people. The book kept building and building, weaving a beautiful, complicated tapestry of these peoples lives in a black community in California and the repercussions Nadia and Luke must deal with after Nadia gets pregnant at 17 years old and has an abortion. 

The author’s observations and commentary on race, culture, age, youth, I really enjoyed and for the first half of the book, I was highlighting a quote on almost every other page. There were several that made me take a step back and really thing about our world and how it treats the black community. 

But after the 50% mark, the main characters development is utterly wasted and they stay stagnant for the rest of the book. Neither of them grow, they only become more toxic and worse people. Everyone lies, no one is faithful, everyone is selfish. Loved it until the 50% mark and then hated the rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, and Medical content

nothingforpomegranted's review

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Six months after the gruesome suicide of her mother, Nadia is processing her grief by isolating herself from her friends, her church, her father, instead finding comfort in the sensation of anonymous bodies pressing against hers and imbibing alcohol. Secretly, she develops a relationship with the pastor's son, Luke, who was recently forced to abandon his college football career due to a debilitating injury. When Nadia becomes pregnant, she is wrenched back into reality, considering her conceptions of motherhood and what it means to love and be loved. Nadia slowly develops a friendship with born-again church girl Aubrey, and it is fascinating to watch her deliberate her actions and exhibit greater empathy over the course of the novel. 

The first-person plural narration by "the mothers," the female church elders, establishes a sense of nostalgia and spirituality in the novel, and I loved all of their gossipy interjections. Bennett demonstrates a mastery of description, adding details about each character without getting bogged down in adjectives, and every character comes to life on the page. The development of the plot was predictable, yet still engaging with an overarching intrigue that propelled the story forward even when not much was happening at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Suicide, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship