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_annika__'s review
- 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
3.25
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Classism, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual harassment
stevia333k's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
This book is very much of the baby boomer generation (I had to use an inflation calculator), the setting is a single year circa 1977-1984. I'm not sure how much is historically accurate. There's obsolete parts.
This had been on my to read list since I was a little kid. I finally got an audiobook copy from my library today & it was only 2h19m long. Circa 2014 i was reading chapters of this book out of order because i approached it as an anthology similar to "chicken noodle souo for the [fill in the blank] soul". Also my reading speed back then sucked.
Um, let's just say there's a massive rape culture, massive domestic violence, and there's at least 1 murder. Also suicidality. There's a part in the book where the girls are parroting transphobic biological essentialism, but to be fair that part of the story kind of calls out the academics who do that as people with power making just-so stories in order to maintain how they outrank others (hence calling this sort of queerphobia as naive).
I feel like this book was presented way back in my day how "braiding sweetgrass" is these days. I'm not sure how to feel about that. The book "settlers" by j sakai was contemporary to this book. IDK why this book became the popular book for including Latinx/hispanic people in academia.
Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Murder, Car accident, Classism, and Excrement
readingwithkaitlyn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.25
Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Car accident, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Rape
Poverty, E slur.directorpurry's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Racial slurs
Minor: Child death and Death
michaelion's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Classism
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
jademrosas's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Sexual assault and Racial slurs
Minor: Terminal illness
quesara's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
Minor: Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Death
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I like the way this book is structured, getting to know the MC and the people in her neighborhood a little at a time. I don't think we're ever told her age, but it has a feeling of her growing up a little, of some time passing but not more than a year or two. The characters feel distinct because the MC describes them in unique ways, with enough detail when previously mentioned characters reappear to let the reader keep track of everyone. She feels like a kid, with a kid's attention to people and ways of describing adult things without always knowing what they are. It handles some pretty traumatic events with care for the reader, sometimes through just mentioning that they happened, and sometimes by showing the MC's reaction without describing the details of the trauma. A lot of it is joyful, and while the sudden shifts in tone can be jarring, they fit the vignette style and it works well overall. The way it jumps around feels like the way someone might describe a year or so of living somewhere, so it's either a style you'll like or maybe it's not for you.
A few things keep this from being a book I can highly recommend, but I have no trouble seeing why this book would be praised. Now I would hesitate to recommend it because of racial slurs and stereotypes which may have not been commonly understood as slurs at the time, but now definitely are. They were jarring to come across and their use repeatedly pulled me out of the story. There was also a way of assuming large bodies were grotesque in a way that adds up to feeling very fatphobic. These weren't always portrayed with malice from the characters, but they are enough of an issue that I'd give a caveat along with any recommendation of this book.
Moderate: Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Fatphobia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Death
CW for racial slurs, racism, sexism, cissexism, ableism, fatphobia, car accident, sexual assault, domestic violence (not depicted), child abuse (not depicted), death (not depicted), suicidal ideation.