Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

43 reviews

streberkatze's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It took me a while to get into the story and get used to the frequent changes in perspective, but I'm glad I kept reading! The character development is very strong, and the way the author weaves in U.S. history with the multigenerational story of two Black families of different class backgrounds felt really organic and never forced or didactic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death

tahsintries's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Classism, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Religious bigotry and Racial slurs

crabbytaco's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Racial slurs and Gun violence

hngisreading's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Cancer, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racism, Child death, and Sexual content

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Gun violence, Dementia, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, Gore, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Toxic friendship

readinggem's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child abuse

heatherinthenether's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.0

This book is a beautifully written telling of complicated lives. It feels so real and immediate, and read  like a poem. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Cursing, Pregnancy, Grief, Cancer, Sexual content, and Death

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Abortion, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Colonisation, Drug use, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Racism, and Sexual content

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

first time reading jacqueline woodson and it's quite good. red at the bone is a story abt family (and all the complexity it entails), identity, and growing into oneself. the novel's relatively short but it packs quite a punch.

there's complexity in its characters - i particularly enjoy the polarity between iris and audrey - while also deftly exploring its themes and issues of race, queerness, and identity.

its unique structure, while oft intriguing, can also be confusing at times, making the reading experience a lil disjointed. nevertheless this is a good, surprisingly layered read esp considering its length.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Racism, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Minor: Death, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Who knew such a short read could convey so much about this family and have such a powerful impact on the reader! I also loved how it delves into the impacts of the Tulsa Race Massacre, a topic that was briefly touched on in my U.S History classes in high school, but never in a meaningful way that conveyed the devastation wreaked upon these Black families. 

I see why everyone raves about this book and the full-cast audiobook was incredible. Hearing Melody's grandfather speak about his family with such love and regret made me want to cry while listening. If you're going to read this one, get the audio from your library. Full stop.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Racism

Moderate: Hate crime

Lynching

aguattery's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

I struggled for a long time on how to review this book. It read to me as a series of short stories, with time jumps that I had a hard time following and no central storyline. Going in expecting a novel, I had a hard time getting into it. But I do think it had a lot of potential and I would try reading another book by the same author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual content