Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

34 reviews

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: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, 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: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

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

drnaynay's review

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism

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

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

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

Minor: Infertility and Vomit

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: Racism and Rape

Moderate: Racial slurs and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, 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

katiejohns's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism