Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

32 reviews

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

grace33's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Police brutality, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

kkulhannie's review

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, Abortion, Abandonment, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Vomit, Rape, Sexism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child death, Infidelity, Stalking, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Addiction, Hate crime, and Pregnancy

lo_ferrara's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was so much more than I expected it to be. Old Hollywood sets the stage for a story about the impact of racism, generational trauma, the incredibly difficult choices women make. 

TW sexual assault and racism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

nehaanna's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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

I loved the pace of this book and its themes, but characters like the St. John family fell so flat. They were one dimensional at best. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcohol, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Addiction, Abortion, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Child death, Grief, Infidelity, and Infertility

heysunnyjess's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Death

sswertz's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, and Violence

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Slavery

lipliplip's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

I liked reading this overall and there are important topics discussed throughout and through an interesting now and then lens. I echo other reviewers thoughts that it is reminiscent of Evelyn Hugo but that the book could have been a bit more concise, especially when it came to characters included and their ultimate importance to the story - I often found myself having to go back and reread earlier parts in order to understand what was going on due to that and some confusing writing. This has not turned me off from this author though as liked the plot as a whole and could see what she had envisioned for the book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Toxic friendship

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