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mollysparkles's review
4.0
This was a challenging read with a poignant story attached! Frequently I find myself picking up easy reads, I’m glad I challenged myself with this and I’m looking forward to more novels like hers going forward. My first Morrison novel, her prose definitely commands your full attention. I enjoyed this story of how much of an impact a person can leave, even after they’re gone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Death, and Adult/minor relationship
thisreadingcorner's review
5.0
Love chronicles the lives of the Cosey women, a granddaughter and widow who used to be best friends but now scramble for purchase in the aftermath of Bill Cosey’s death. Christine and Heed are cohabitating and codependent but adamant in their hatred of each other, a hatred planted by Christine’s conspiracy-minded mother (May) and stoked by Cosey’s indulgent perversion.
“Heed closed her fingers. Christine decorated hers. No matter. They battled on as though they were champions instead of sacrifices. A crying shame.”
There are essays to be written about each and every character in the book, and the way judgement and hypocrisy tap dance through the town. There’s the way Christine and Heed both fall out of social standing despite their opposite childhoods. The brand of toxic masculinity that Cosey and Romen both embody in their sexuality, observed but unchallenged by Sandler. The proxy treatment Junior gives Romen with Cosey to make up for the emptiness of her childhood. So much trauma packed into each and every character’s arc, some of it dressed up as adventure.
The ending is the neatest of all her work I’ve read so far. L as the narrator makes perfect sense but Junior remains an enigma. It’s not happy by any means, but it is explained, and the conclusions Christine and Heed come to provide some catharsis in the absence of vengeance.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Child abuse
ktkeps's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Abortion, Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Racism
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