Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Muted

Not only do you have the main character who is a black young girl who is not only abused sexually, physically and mentally by her grown ass mentor who exploites her you also have to deal with the fact that this main character is a QUEER BLACK WOMAN who is questioning and who has yet to identify these feelings that she’s having and has has gotten no validation of these feelings from herself nor those who are close to her, has experienced homophobia and fat phobia from people she’s supposed to have faith in and trust with her growth, not only do you have that but you have to deal with the fact that she does not make it in the end, that she dies and we are supposed to be satisfied that oh she’s avenged in the end because everything comes to light and he’s punished like no I’m not satisfied with that at all I’m HURT you put me through all of that traumatic experience of reading that and expect me to be satisfied with that ending no I’m not I’m hurt I’m sad I’m upset and I don’t like this book because it it’s too much it’s too much trauma for me to justify what’s in here as someone who is a queer black “woman” I don’t want to read a book in which “I“ don’t make it, in which death is the end for me no.

Plus, that teenage communication was horrendous don’t nobody talk like that💀.

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jaec11's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

Muted

This book is a LOT but it's a very important story of a girl named Denver, a black girl attempting to break into the music industry

This book was really dark and painful and difficult, but told very very well. I did think the beginning was slow and a little difficult to get through, especially as the characters were so blatantly naive and annoying. However, it sets up the book nicely for the ending, it just felt like it dragged on for too long

The writing does feel a little cheesy at times, but I do love the poetic style and the flow. I listened to the audiobook and it was very well told, except that the music was... not it

The stories that unfold between chapters, the flashbacks or backstories, are really beautiful. They leave the story to unfold by inference and it's really well done. The ending is heartwrenching and soul shattering

PG-13+ for rape

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jainnyreads's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.5

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bookdragon217's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

Thanks to @scholasticinc and @coloredpagesblogtours for the gifted copy.

Muted by Tami Charles is a timely and necessary read that illuminates the dirty, secret side of the music business and how it preys on young girls of color, steals their dreams and eventually their innocence. The industry perpetuates the impossible beauty standards, fatphobia, violence against women and promotes low self esteem and self hate of being a Black and brown girl in a white washed world. The story is ripped from the headlines but the message will hit you like a ton of bricks. Once I started reading I could not tear myself from the pages. This book grabs you by the throat and suffocates you with raw emotion. You want to yell. You want to scream. You want to do anything to warn Denver of the danger that lies ahead. The ending left me in shambles and I was sobbing unconsolably. I was utterly devastated and my heart literally broke in a million pieces. I'm still thinking about all the girls like Denver and how our society has failed them, silenced them and stolen their dreams by refusing to cast out rape culture, misogyny and patriarchy.

🎵 Black and brown girls need protection. Believe them period.
🎵 Predatory men should be punished, not innocent girls who are the victims.
🎵 Teenage girls are not adults and deserve love, support and nurturing.
🎵 Stop silencing girls. End rape culture.

Here are some quote that stay with me:
🎼 there lived a girl
racked with pain,
drilled down to the none
who suddenly felt
her body was no longer her own

🎼 The body splits itself in two.
The before
and
The after
The before was for me;
an imperfect sculpted
shell of who I chose to be.
The after,
that is for him,
or I guess,
them.

Read this book because we owe it to our girls to do better and stand up for them. Read this book so you can protect future generations. Read this book because you're ready to use your power to help girls regain their voice that may have been muted.

To all the girls: I SEE YOU AND I BELIEVE YOU

Content Warnings