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heatskitchen's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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? Yes
3.0
annlee0110's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
2.0
mollywetta's review
3.0
This wasn't at all what I expected, and I loved it. Rumaan Alam write the interior lives of characters so well.
marisatn's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.75
From the reviews it looks like most folks either loved or hated this book. I think I’m in the middle ground. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it, definitely still thinking about it. I’m curious if it will be one that sticks in my brain and pops up randomly.
chd7's review
5.0
Mothering, an innate ability or something we learn as we go along. This book made me think about how we mother, how I mothered my sons. We then have to release them into a harsh world, full of prejudice and privilege, for some and not for others.
elsez326's review
4.0
"It's 1999 and I believe a better world is coming". Oh sweet hindsight. Rebecca is such a flawed, painfully optimistic and stubborn character. I would have liked Cheryl to be more fleshed out more, but I feel that was intentional so that most of what you know about her was what Rebecca believed about her. Some of the language bogged me down a bit, but overall enjoyable.
ashleysilver7's review
4.0
I found the character in this mother very relatable. How shocking to find out at the end of the novel that the author is a man! He does a great job of capturing the emotions most women experience, or at least I have experienced, with motherhood.
I had a hard time for a little while reading about the tediousness and tiredness that new motherhood entails. Having personal experiences with postpartum depression made those pages really come alive for me, and not necessarily in a good way. However, that is real life, and this is the story of this mother, so these experiences needed to be told.
Rebecca Stone is a remarkable, and yet in many ways, an un-remarkable person. However, she is a good mother and does what needs to be done. She has two sons, one biological, and one adopted (black) about 3 years apart. The author does a great job of making us all see (especially white Americans) how we overlook racism. White people don't think to be afraid of police officers....how sad that there is a double standard, but there is. Teachers, either subconsciously or not, often treat young black males differently than other students. At the end of the book, Rebecca is preparing for a speech, and she states that the world is getting better. In 2019, it doesn't necessarily seem as though race relations in our country are getting better...it sometimes seems worse. However, this book does a great job of starting a dialogue in many ways, and it's a delightful read for mothers and non-mothers alike.
I had a hard time for a little while reading about the tediousness and tiredness that new motherhood entails. Having personal experiences with postpartum depression made those pages really come alive for me, and not necessarily in a good way. However, that is real life, and this is the story of this mother, so these experiences needed to be told.
Rebecca Stone is a remarkable, and yet in many ways, an un-remarkable person. However, she is a good mother and does what needs to be done. She has two sons, one biological, and one adopted (black) about 3 years apart. The author does a great job of making us all see (especially white Americans) how we overlook racism. White people don't think to be afraid of police officers....how sad that there is a double standard, but there is. Teachers, either subconsciously or not, often treat young black males differently than other students. At the end of the book, Rebecca is preparing for a speech, and she states that the world is getting better. In 2019, it doesn't necessarily seem as though race relations in our country are getting better...it sometimes seems worse. However, this book does a great job of starting a dialogue in many ways, and it's a delightful read for mothers and non-mothers alike.
alisonjfields's review
1.0
This is an after-school special of a novel—ostensibly about racial politics—that names its clueless, barely functional, unintentionally hilarious white lady protagonist “Rebecca” without a speck of irony.
rmarcin's review
3.0
I must have chosen to read this book on the suggestion of a book list. While it was very different from the genre I normally read, it was interesting, but just not my cup of tea. It explored motherhood and its changes to a marriage, to a family, to children. It explored a black child being raised by a white family.
It began in 1985 and continued through to 1999, and I did enjoy reliving my memories of those years when the author mentioned a particular event or piece of culture.
#ThatKindOfMother #RumaanAlam
It began in 1985 and continued through to 1999, and I did enjoy reliving my memories of those years when the author mentioned a particular event or piece of culture.
#ThatKindOfMother #RumaanAlam
joldfield's review against another edition
It felt so disconnected. Time would pass without any indication. I wasn’t drawn to any characters. Really wanted to finish but it wasn’t worth my time.