Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

26 reviews

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

partymccarty30's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Abortion, Police brutality, and Child death

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

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

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

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