Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Burnt Sugar

I enjoyed the dark and emotional relationship between the main character and her mother. It was horrific at times, far from ideal and you do feel genuinely sorry for her. At times an (acceptable) struggle to read. The balance between disliking her mother and acknowledging her responsibility of looking after her is portrayed so well. It really encapsulates how painful and stressful it is to look after a parent in need, but the added layer of their difficult relationship is what makes this such a worthwhile read. You feel every pang of hatred and betrayal.
I listened on audiobook, and although it was well read I did need to re-listen at times. I think this was more to do with the irregular pace and succinctness of the writing, I kept missing important elements among less important parts of the plot, otherwise would have been 4*.

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dafni's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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asainspace's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

Interesting exploration of some ideas around trauma, abuse, memory and care work that felt underdeveloped. The flat narrative voice across a lifetime which made it feel like the narrator/main character was stuck in a perpetual adolescent may have been intentional but fell flat for me as led to a lack of character development/actualisation.

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withlivjones's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.25

A really in-depth exploration of a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, and a book where all the characters are awful in different ways (unless that’s just how the narrator wants you to see them…). It took me a while to get into this book, but the final climactic chapter was so worth it. The whole book as this claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in an uncomfortable situation, and not many books have made me feel so much dislike and sympathy for the characters and the same time.

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liesbethvv's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm having a hard time rating this book. On the one hand, it took me quite some time to get into it, had a relatively slow start for me. There were no loveable characters to get attached to, but this made the reading experience more interesting and nuanced. I'm not convinced that the changed title (from 'Girl in White Cotton') was a good choice contentwise, although I agree it is more enticing. I don't really love

open endings, but it felt quite good in this book.

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