Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

43 reviews

jpfortmiller's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Rape, and Abandonment

Minor: Dementia and Police brutality

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

savheath's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Death of parent, Abortion, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, and Classism

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

alexandramiller's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racism, Racial slurs, and Rape

leos_library's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Racial slurs, Abortion, Rape, and Racism

annamay1021's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Alcohol, Abortion, Racism, Racial slurs, Slavery, Rape, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

Minor: Child death

vel629vet's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

I haven’t had a book infuriate me in a long time. I’m always more frustrated with books when they have the potential to be amazing and they just fall by the wayside. The writing was so readable and quick which was a good thing, but the plot was too scattered. Some characters were so detailed and then they were just dismissed from the story in 2 sentences. Any twists that arose toward the end fell completely flat and had no emotional heft. I wished so much more for this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy and Racial slurs

Minor: Miscarriage, Slavery, and Child death

trystanlp's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Rape and Slavery

sophs_mood_reading's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

A multi generational saga spanning from the segregated south, glitzy old Hollywood and the current celebrity life. Kitty Karr a white Hollywood legend has left her entire estate to three sisters who are young, wealthy in their own right and Black. 

As Elise one of the sisters digs through Kitty’s belongings she discovers a story that will change everything. 

We get the learn the truth through multiple points of view spanning many generations, locations and women. It’s a book where if you listen carefully you can easily pick up all the little clues and put together what’s what yourself but not in a way that feels to predictable. 

There is a lot of discussion surround race and what that meant in America at the time so it is no where near a fluffy historical fiction and really does get you thinking. 

The audiobook was good with different voice actors playing the different points of view, however, the voice actor for Elise fell short and it was often difficult to figure out what was dialogue and who was talking. 

This would be a great book for bookclubs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, Miscarriage, Grief, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Infidelity, Rape, Child death, Slavery, and Police brutality