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bookishnanna's review against another edition
4.75
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, and Terminal illness
stevia333k's review against another edition
4.5
I read this book so I could attend a bookclub. I liked "all boys aren't blue" by this author, so mood.
I'm not sure how to feel about this one. Like it describes how a family was able to support each other, but at the same time my family experience is so different (granted I'm white & my family broke up, but still. It was nice to hear about different families' histories because my knowledge of the sociology of family within a family is lacking.) I'll probably want to reread this book as I learn more about different family structures & care networks.
The book is about black joy & family with a woman at the head of the "clan". I learned from said bookclub that the police involvement of the family had to do with the police department being a job, and it was nice to hear about a diversity of responses to that sort of thing.
Anyways the aphorisms were cool
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Bullying, Cancer, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
to_m's review
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Death
Moderate: Racism and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual assault
kshertz's review
4.0
Minor: Terminal illness, Homophobia, Bullying, Death, Racism, and Racial slurs
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Violence, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Cancer, Grief, and Sexual assault
lindsloveslit's review against another edition
4.5
The short memoir about Black culture, family, community, and religion was beautifully written - I wanted to highlight the majority of what I read. π₯Ή From page one until the very end, you can FEEL the love poured into their work. (Page 1, btw, is an authors note that includes content warnings). It made me want to read everything they've written. π
Throughout the book, they tell of their Nanny's (grandma) passing - not just the trauma, but also the joy. The love letters that Nanny's grandchildren leave her and the stories told throughout were so touching.
quotes that stuck with me:
π "Black boys don't have it easy in American society. We face many systems of oppression that tend to harden us, forcing us to lock in our emotions and exist in a state of near constant internal rayem these systems become pipelines to our trauma -pipelinesbthatbmany if us never make it out of. Though this trauma and adversity often beat down our spirits, we may be bruised, but we are not broken."
π "Society often tells only one side of the Black story, more often than not because it's not being written by us. Even when we are allowed to write it, it often has to use our trauma as a catalyst die the story telling."
π "Knowing that death is a part of life doesn't stop the fact that it's one of the hardest things to cope with."
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
dominicangirl's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Gun violence and Death