Reviews

The Mothers, by Brit Bennett

suzannahslibrary's review against another edition

emotional 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

bookswithbrittanica's review against another edition

2.0

I DNF'd at 50%, and this book reminded me so much of another book I didn't enjoy, Jodi Picoult's A Spark of Light, which also deals with the topic of abortion and how it affects lives. This book wasn't entirely all about that (or pro-life or pro-choice specifically just like ASOL), but focuses on mothers, or the lack therof.

I don't know, I just really think these topics and this literary fiction style is the bane of my existence. I'm just not a huge fan of the writing style with these three teenagers that we are following, and I don't care about them at all.

The Mothers is really a coming-of-age journey for the three teenagers Nadia, Aubrey and Luke. Nadia and Aubrey are besties, and Luke is the one who knocked-up Nadia.

Maybe if I read this physically it would be better? Idk, I was bored from the start and kept hoping it would get better. These topics and style of writing may just not be for me. I loved the small town, Black community feel, but when we focused on the teenagers I was bored as hell.

kelseyloraine's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-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

5.0

greenmind's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This came as a recommendation to me and I wanted to give Brit Bennent's writing a try - I will probably get her other novel out from the library at some point in the future, because I enjoyed this one, if finding it overlong in places. It was a good book, but certainly didn't grab me immediately like I thought it would. The prose is evocative, but I definitely found the lead characters quite frustrating at times - Nadia is my preferred one, but Luke really annoyed me at times.  This isn't a problem necessarily, but near the end of the book I found it a little harder to relate because of this frustration. I think it was a really good way to tell the story of choice and the paths we choose in life, as well as the suffocating nature of conservative, religious culture and the way people try to navigate a life they feel they don't fit. A good book, but maybe not my preferred style of novel personally.

chichio's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

 It was strange, learning the contours of another's loneliness. You could never know it all at once; like stepping inside a dark cave, you felt along the walls, bumped into jagged edges.

Can't believe this is a debut novel... seriously. Bennett presents such a realistic cast of characters, all of them flawed in ways that make them so human that they literally pop off the page. Outside of the secret that the novel is centred around, I think this book does a great job at exploring the positive and negative aspects of close-knit religious (especially Black) communities, exposing the sexism, the judgement, and the weight of expectations that those who grow up in the church often face. I thought it was all masterfully done, and despite it being a heavily character-driven novel, I rarely ever felt that it was moving too slow.

Apparently a lot of people didn't like the ending but I think it's perfect because

Spoiler

we start the book with The Mothers and end the book with them, forced into a position where we have nothing to go off of but glimpses into Nadia's life and our own assumptions. Like The Mothers, we look at what we already know about Nadia and decide what her outcome is for ourselves. An open ending for this kind of novel makes perfect sense to me

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lulumt's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.25

aguha27's review against another edition

4.0

First book on the kindle so I can't tell if I read it quickly because of that or because I was so looking forward to what was going to happen next. I loved the characters but the end was a little too ambiguous for me

scarlettlarry's review against another edition

I enjoyed this well enough but it was a bit too aimless and I eventually lost interest. It’s well written though and I intend to eventually return to it. 

gretab13's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

ashlieed's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0