A review by katokaitlyn
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

Rating this book was hard because the text was difficult for me to read. I had to take long breaks and some days I could only venture to read 10-20 pages. But Allison crafts some of the most real characters ever constructed in literature in these pages. Allison tells the story of abuse in a visceral and unrelenting way—a way that causes you as a reader to flinch, to stutter, to fail to breathe, gasping. I read this in a dark time in my own life and I simultaneously regret this and appreciate the clarity this text gave me. It may be a new favorite book, though I’m not sure how one can return to it knowing what you know.
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