Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Betty by Tiffany McDaniel

52 reviews

ananya2112's review

dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This book made me feel things I've never felt before. For a moment, it made me feel like I'm a part of the Carpenter Family, witnessing everything through my own eyes. Miss Betty Carpenter and her story will forever be etched in my soul. Tiffany McDaniel, thank you so much for writing such an exquisite story, sharing the history of your family. I wish we had an extra star for books like this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abortion, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

rachaelwrites818's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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: Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Abortion, Racism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Grief, Rape, Child death, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Bullying, Child death, and Drug abuse

ivbluu's review against another edition

straight up trauma porn. this book needs pretty much every trigger warning you can think of and it is not subtle. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Suicide, Racism, Homophobia, Murder, Child abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Blood, Death, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

cbeghuin's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death

Minor: Homophobia

thewoodlandbookshelf's review

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

lizziaha's review against another edition

sad

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

5.0

Wow this one hurt. I relate a lot to Betty and her dad is the most lovely character. The writing was beautiful and I feel like McDaniels was able to take those heavy heavy topics and weave a tragically honest story around them. What I didn’t realize when I started the book was that this was a story about women and how the world beats down on us for all our lives. And how we all fight back in our own ways. The way that McDaniels dipped into that well of sadness again and again made this book an emotional read for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Suicide, Incest, Racism, Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, Child death, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Rape, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Miscarriage, Murder, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Hate crime, Violence, Sexism, Blood, and Bullying

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

polliam's review

dark tense fast-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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Addiction, Rape, Incest, Bullying, Hate crime, Suicide, Child abuse, and Homophobia

annikarae's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense

5.0

It'd be so much easier if the bad things in our lives were kept in our skin that we could shed off like a snake. Then we could leave all the dried horrid things on the ground and step forward, free from them.

this was maybe the most heartbreaking book I have ever read. the story itself was both brutal and ruthless, but was written in a soft, poetic hand. this is a book that will stick with me for a long time. a five star read if ever there was one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Animal death, Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Death, Incest, and Rape

floppyleaves's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Rape, Incest, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexism, Self harm, Grief, Animal cruelty, Racism, Violence, Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Child death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, Colonisation, Bullying, Animal death, and Abortion

Moderate: Gun violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, and Body shaming

badwolfreads's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

Betty
Tiffany McDaniels

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

You know those really terrible 20-car pileups? That's what this book reminded me of. And not in a bad way (although there really isn't anything good about a car accident). It was like watching cars slowly crash into each other. It's terrible, but you don't want to stop looking. Traumatic event after traumatic event crashing into each other.

This book is about the Carpenter family, mostly about Betty. Alka & Landon, the parents, didn't meet in a particularly special way, but what was special was that Landon beat the shit out of Alka's dad after he found out he beat her. They ran off and had 8 kids, 2 of whom didn't last long. Landon is Native American with dark-skin, and so is Betty. This being in the time they were in and in Ohio, racial discrimination was pretty brutal, even among themselves. Alka, who was white, would tell Betty terrible things about how she looked. And so did her sister, Flossie. Then there was rape - 2 of the female characters were r*ped and Betty herself was almost raped, and these incidents weren't by strangers. Alka Carpenter isn't the greatest mom, but when you consider what happened to her, it makes more sense. There just so much that happens. The book takes place over the span of many years, which makes it seem really slow. There isn't a lot of happiness that comes through in this book, at least not for me. But it kept me reading and wanting to know what happens to certain characters. I would recommend with caution...this one is kind of heavy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Murder, Bullying, Abortion, Sexual assault, Child death, Suicide attempt, Rape, Animal death, Sexism, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, Racism, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury