Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

9 reviews

clairew97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

katiecat22's review

emotional funny reflective

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness

tina94's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• 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: Infidelity

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Abortion

dementia

dalmavatai's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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

5.0

Ahh this short story collection was so impactful and gripping, I loved every single second of it!

All of the stories in here deal with desire, pain, grief, love, family, and Christianity, and all of them do it brilliantly and beautifully. All of the characters are vivid and relatable - they are not without their flaws, in fact these flaws are often prominent in the stories, but they are portrayed with such compassion and humanity that you can't help but feel for them. Every story is unique but what unites them all is their exploration of how Black women navigate desire and pain, love and grief, often simultaneously. 

Such a beautiful collection full of humanity, exploring the universally human desire to be loved. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, and Racism

emliza's review

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Racism

rockyroadbutch's review

challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Dementia, Fatphobia, Grief, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

nsfonline's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was an absolute masterpiece. Each story was so engaging and stood on its own.  I could not put it down from chapter 1 to the end.  I listened on audio which was great and toward the end I bought the Kindle version so I have a permanent record and to support this awesome storyteller.  Will revisit this book and this author often.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, and Emotional abuse

hollyd19's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a collection of short stories that spotlights Black women of various ages as they push against prescribed narratives & wrestle with purpose, sexuality, and worth. One endorsement described the collection as “cheeky and insightful” and I second that. I can’t say every story was for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed How to Make Love to a Physicist, Peach Cobbler, Snowfall, and Instructions for Married Christian Men. The stories are rich, artistically diverse, and deeply human. 

I was surprised (perhaps I shouldn’t have been, given the word ‘secrets’ in the title) by how heavily sex factored in nearly all the stories. It was never gratuitous or explicit, but it did play a much larger role than I had expected. Additionally, I had the impression that the collection would be more... fun? Honestly, for the most part I found it fairly bleak. That’s not to say it wasn’t tender and at times funny, but most stories left me feeling rather melancholy. Each woman featured faces some significant strain — emotionally, relationally, etc — and I would have loved at least one story to be robustly joyful (the closest is How To Make Love to a Physicist). Finally, there is ample mention of church life & culture, but I wouldn’t define any of the protagonists as “church ladies.” They are all church-lady-adjacent, but perhaps that was Philyaw’s chosen device: a window into the lives of church ladies from those who are in some way outside the fold.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Sexual content, and Racism

Minor: Murder

sarahaf712's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Body shaming

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Dementia

Minor: Abortion, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Terminal illness