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iheartapolloxxi's review
- 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
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Abortion, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Infertility, Sexual violence, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
madeleinebay's review
Graphic: Abortion, Misogyny, Sexism, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Religious bigotry
beccabookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Suicide
Moderate: Infertility and Rape
Minor: Drug abuse
mali33102's review
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, and Infidelity
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Suicide, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
jojo_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Abortion, and Death of parent
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, and Racial slurs
nebraskanwriter's review against another edition
- 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
1.5
The author’s observations and commentary on race, culture, age, youth, I really enjoyed and for the first half of the book, I was highlighting a quote on almost every other page. There were several that made me take a step back and really thing about our world and how it treats the black community.
But after the 50% mark, the main characters development is utterly wasted and they stay stagnant for the rest of the book. Neither of them grow, they only become more toxic and worse people. Everyone lies, no one is faithful, everyone is selfish. Loved it until the 50% mark and then hated the rest of the book.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, and Medical content
nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The first-person plural narration by "the mothers," the female church elders, establishes a sense of nostalgia and spirituality in the novel, and I loved all of their gossipy interjections. Bennett demonstrates a mastery of description, adding details about each character without getting bogged down in adjectives, and every character comes to life on the page. The development of the plot was predictable, yet still engaging with an overarching intrigue that propelled the story forward even when not much was happening at all.
Graphic: Abortion, Suicide, Grief, and Infidelity
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
ivybaggs's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Suicide, Abortion, Death of parent, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
editoryalizing's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Infertility, Grief, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Adult/minor relationship
spinesinaline's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
The hype was right! Everyone and anyone was sharing this book when it first came out and in the years since. Still, I knew very little about it besides what the title suggests, that it’s a story about mothers, so I was happy to discover it fully through reading rather than reviews.
Bennett has such beautiful writing and I was just so immediately taken in by these characters, even as I was silently screaming at them for their decisions. It was a stressful read and sad but so very, very good. I can’t wait to read the next of Bennett’s works.
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Infertility, and Pregnancy