Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster

20 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

2.5

I received a copy of this book as a gift.
"What's Mine and Yours" follows multiple points of view of different families grappling with racist decisions that greatly impact their individual lives. Gee's mother wants her son to have the best in his life, and that means attending the best school now that they have opened it up to black students. Noelle's mother will not acknowledge that Noelle is half Latina, and instead only sees her daughter as white. Noelle and Gee end up working together on a school play, and their worlds quickly become linked in ways neither expected.
I was excited to read this story because I do enjoy reading about the human struggle, but this book just did not click for me. I was never invested in the characters' stories, and I did not care what was going on. I think I was immediately drawn into one character from the beginning, but he is killed almost immediately, and I was very unhappy with this turn of events. Because of this, I did not want to connect to the rest of the story.
I think this book has its audience, unfortunately, that audience is not me. 

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jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.25


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dominic_t's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.0

This one is a challenging read. Watching the characters engage in self-destructive behavior again and again was uncomfortable. It is well-written and the characters are well-developed. 

The ending really got to me.
It broke my heart to see Gee fuck up his relationship with Noelle beyond repair. I was rooting for them! Although I will give the author props for the late reveal. Totally surprised me.

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beklovesbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Really interesting non-linear format of moving forward and backward in time sometimes by decades other times by a month and each time changing whose perspective the story is being told from while overlapping in someway with the other storytellers and stories. It would have been helpful to start a timeline and list of characters at the beginning.

Overall a pretty depressing book as people are constantly using one another, tolerating neglect, and there’s just so much graphic emphasis on sex!

Interesting perspective of poverty, race, and generational trauma. 

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d0505's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

3.5


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jenniferduannfultz's review

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emotional 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

4.0


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kmorris85's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0


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marielaabrown's review

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emotional hopeful 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

4.0

I think it would take real maturity to write such a book with such human story-lines and complex and nuanced characters.

The ending was simultaneously perfect and too messy ~ maybe i wish it was longer

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kimveach's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.5

This was a good story with interesting characters.  However, I didn't like the back and forth between timelines.

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myinfinitetbr's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

In Piedmont, North Carolina, a community is outraged when students from a predominantly Black school are brought to a mostly white school.

Told over the course of 30 years in the perspectives of a Black mother and her son, and a white mother and her half-Latina daughter; each mother determined to see her child have a better life. Their kids become involved in a school play together, and create ties that bond them for decades to come.

I really liked that the narrative included the perspectives of both families with the mothers and their teens. Though the characters were well written, I found my investment in them lacking, which may have been due to the frequent shift between timelines. I still enjoyed the commentary on family dysfunction, race, identity, motherhood, and the decisions that cause a ripple effect through generations.

⚠️ Addiction, Racism, Violence, Death of a Parent, Infidelity, Abortion

Thank you Grand Central Pub for the gifted copy! All opinions are my own

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