Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

12 reviews

lindsaybethlyons's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully weaves historical truths into a compelling narrative that bounces between present and past. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child death, Cancer, and Abortion

aposthuma's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

3.25

This book tackled a lot of heavy issues. Overall it was an enjoyable read and would definitely make a great book club read, but the present-day POV at the beginning really dragged, and I had a hard time keeping up with so many characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Violence, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Cancer, Racial slurs, Child death, Grief, Death of parent, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

haley49's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Such a great story but the ending felt unfinished. There were so many questions for both timelines, I wondered why the author didn’t stick to one. The psychology of the main leads were understandable but their development progression and/or the supporting cast needed more space for that extra umph. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Classism, Murder, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abortion, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Sexism, Cancer, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Infertility

Minor: Slavery, Xenophobia, Violence, Addiction, and Stalking

mdal26's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.5

I loved the concept, the story and the characters. Kitty and her friends were interesting and kept me engaged. 

That being said, I wish that the storyline in the present had gone deeper - I forgot at times that the story had two timelines because there was a strong focus on the past, and the present felt disconnected at times. In particular, at the end, I wanted to understand the impact and implications of what had happened in the past on the present day characters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Death of parent, Police brutality, Slavery, Colonisation, Rape, Alcoholism, Cancer, Classism, Bullying, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Racism, Grief, Racial slurs, Death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Abortion

abicaro17's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Its just kinda meh. The story itself is cool! Kitty is a black woman passing as white and paving her way in Hollywood as a white woman. Shes inspiring and clearly talented but unfortunately her character development later in the book falls flat. The whole end of the book feels rushed compared to the intricate stories about how Kitty made it in Hollywood. I think it would benefit from like 100 more pages of either present day Elise content or Kitty with Elise from her pov. They just seem very disconnected for a close relationship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Police brutality, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Hate crime, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Medical content, Violence, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Vomit

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don’t know how to feel about this. I was intrigued by Kitty’s story, and I saw what the author was trying to do, but I think this book was lacking in a lot of areas. The first 100-150 pages were pretty slow and built Elise’s story only to disregard it completely for a significant portion of the book. I was way more invested in the story of Kitty and her friends, to the point that the 2017 story felt unnecessary and disappointing most of the time. I also found the characters in the 2017 storyline a bit under-realized. 
Kitty was a complex character and not always “likable,” which I think was a strong point of this book. The challenging decisions she faced were evident and her handling of certain situations showed her humanness.
Overall, I found major plot points of this book predictable and minor ones a bit confusing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Terminal illness, Grief, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Racism, Alcohol, Classism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Murder, Rape, Body shaming, and Sexual assault

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Infidelity, Sexual content, Abortion, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Bullying, Dementia, Drug use, Dysphoria, Medical content, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Infertility, Slavery, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Cancer, Death, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Cursing, and Racial slurs

sholtie's review

challenging emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Finally! A book that understands history is gossip! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Cancer

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Police brutality, Addiction, Colonisation, Drug use, Abortion, Classism, and Miscarriage

Minor: Infertility and Vomit

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious 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

4.0

Rounding up to a four. Not one my favorite ways of storytelling, but the ending gave me the payoff I was looking for. Lots of themes to sort through. Well worth the effort.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Cancer, Death of parent, Abandonment, Racism, Rape, and Slavery

faerietale_princess's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Utterly intoxicating. Pulls you right in and doesn’t let you go until the end.

I preferred Kitty’s POV more than Elise’s. The writing is really strong, but the modern day characters kind of all talk to each other the same way. This can also leak in to a few conversations between the historical characters.

The author is intelligent and it shows. She trusts her readers with the story. She lays out clues and trusts the reader to figure them out. This can lead to a bit of predictability, I suppose, but it doesn’t feel forced. Rather, it feels rewarding. When she confirms things, she doesn’t hold your hand.

There were a lot of characters. Most of them are definitely distinct. There were a few that didn’t really feel distinct enough, but we don’t see much of them.

If you like Seven Husbands because of the romance, this may not be for you. If you like Seven Husbands because it’s historical fiction set in old Hollywood, definitely read this. I loved SH but this is definitely the better book, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Vomit and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent