Reviews

I really liked this book and the first few chapters were great. 'The Mothers' as a collective voice was a great way to tell the story. But as the story wore on, it lost consistency, meaning and focus. So much was just left in the air, for example, I needed some sort of hint as to why the mother killed herself and this was a driving force to the story line. Also, characters were introduced, not fleshed out then disappeared serving no purpose to the story whatsoever. Years were skipped over with absolutely nothing discussed and also important conversations were just dropped. Is this a book about abortion (I sorta thought so since it was based around the church and the guy ended up going to abortion counseling for fathers years later, friendship, secrets, what exactly? Finally, the main character was unlikable. A little more time to character and plot development would have made this a 4 star book.

sydneythegoddess's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

muirk128's review against another edition

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4.0

For a shorter novel, I loved the depth of characters, though oddly I found myself struggling to picture any of the characters, despite the included descriptions.

ma529's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.0

buttercupita's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a really engaging and provocative story about pregnancy, parenthood, friendship, and love. The basics of the story could happen in any community, but the African American perspective does play a great part, and each of the main characters was well fleshed out and very sympathetic. As I read it, I saw some interesting points of comparison with Americanah -- strong black women characters who wrestle with family ties and the expectations their identity imposes. Although I did not always like the choices made by the main characters, they felt sincere.