Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Me (Moth) by Amber McBride

20 reviews

thebookkeepers's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

5.0

That ending!! 

This is the 2nd book I’ve read by this author, and she’s officially a favorite. This YA novel in verse packs a huge emotional punch and deals with heavy themes of heartache including death, grief, survivors guilt, domestic abuse, and mental health. 

I loved the cultural elements on Navajo heritage & the hoodoo/root/ancestral work referenced as well. I was not expecting the ending to be what it was and that was brilliantly executed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Racism and Bullying

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

Knocked me for all the loops in the best possible ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Classism, Death, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Child death, and Child abuse

Minor: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Blood, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Slavery

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

5.0

A story in verse is one that is hard to love. Many times the connection between reader and character is dampened by what remains unsaid. Even though we don't actually know who Moth and Sani are, we know the core of them. Some poems didn't work for me independently, as I don't have the connection to culture or experience that the characters do, but they all worked together and kept me invested anyways. At its core this tale is about grief and growth.

Sometimes you are holding onto something so tightly that the only choice is to learn how to let go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Minor: Racism and Violence

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

Listened to this on a long car ride and pretty sure I cried out in grief after reading this. This was beautifully written and has made me realize that I don't read enough novels in verse because there's just an extra emotional quality to novels written in verse that packs a harder punch. Me (Moth) was a book on coping with loss, grief, and learning to move on. I loved reading the main characters' journey through this and the ending was as painful as a throat punch. Very effective, 10/10, no notes, Amber McBride, this was such an important read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Racism

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

Written by a hoodoo practitioner with notes at the end thanking her Navajo friend helping edit/being consulted for the Navajo character, the poetic novella follows Moth, a teenage African American girl,  and Sani a Navajo teenage boy as they try to deal through their interpersonal traumas and tragedies as well as generational traumas and tragedies they inherit and live with from the harm the United States has done to both their peoples respectively. The teenagers find comfort in each other and their respective traditions (moth’s grandfather being a hoodoo man and sani’s father being  medicine man) similarities and differences as they travel the south of both the Great Migration of African American to the Navajo Nation in their last summer to find some reconciliation with and for each other. 

More sad then scary but it is a haunting story, I loved reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racism, Self harm, Drug use, Death of parent, Colonisation, Child death, Racial slurs, Grief, Child abuse, Slavery, Genocide, and Bullying

yadira315's review against another edition

emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

At this point anything that this woman writes, I will read. This book broke my heart. It was so beautiful and so sad all at the same time, because you have beautiful descriptive prose throughout the book. The two main characters have such a unique relationship with each other, and they each go on their own journey of self discovery, constantly supporting each other. Amber McBride has such an easy way of storytelling. You are constantly just turning the page because you wanna keep on going to find out what’s going to happen next and when I tell you, your jaw is going to drop when you get to the end of this book, prepare to be crying. I love stories that teach me history and folklore about things I do not know, so I really did learn about the Navajo and Hoodoo in the story. I highly recommend! 

Content warning: Grief, Physical Abuse, Car Accident, Bullying 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Grief, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism and Bullying

snarkandspark's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Bullying

storielore's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Car accident, and Mental illness

Minor: Bullying and Racism

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Grief

_savannahreads_'s review

emotional sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Car accident, Colonisation, Grief, and Death of parent