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A review by frenchbooknerd
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
I picked this up because I absolutely adored The Vanishing Half and I was very curious to read something else by the author.
I loved the writing and the narration, I loved how the points of view shift but in a way that is so subtle that you almost don't notice without being confusing. I loved how the characters were developed and how I could picture it all. And I loved this idea of "the Mothers" as those exterior unreliable narrators who are still very much part of the setting and the story.
That said, as I was reading it, I grew more and more uncomfortable and I wasn't sure why at first but by the end I figured it out. This book feels like it's giving a very "pro-life" - I'm putting that in brackets because I don't believe that putting the existence of a cluster of cells before the actual life of a woman is actually pro life but that's my opinion - message. If you've had an abortion, this book can be triggering. This may not be on purpose but it still made the whole reading experience difficult for me.
I loved the writing and the narration, I loved how the points of view shift but in a way that is so subtle that you almost don't notice without being confusing. I loved how the characters were developed and how I could picture it all. And I loved this idea of "the Mothers" as those exterior unreliable narrators who are still very much part of the setting and the story.
That said, as I was reading it, I grew more and more uncomfortable and I wasn't sure why at first but by the end I figured it out. This book feels like it's giving a very "pro-life" - I'm putting that in brackets because I don't believe that putting the existence of a cluster of cells before the actual life of a woman is actually pro life but that's my opinion - message. If you've had an abortion, this book can be triggering. This may not be on purpose but it still made the whole reading experience difficult for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion and Rape