jabulani 's review for:

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

3.0

---

3.5/5 stars. I think the primary audience for this book is likely white people. It was interesting to hear the different perspectives of characters surrounding a single event; there were poignant moments where a white female character is grappling with her implicit bias, but the book ask could have delved much deeper. This book felt like a surface level intro to racism and implicit bias, like a luke warm pool for those still uncomfortable with the topic to dip their toes into before acclimating to the deeper darker truths. But anti-racism work is not comfortable. This speaks to the privilege (whether conscious or not) of the author, and possibly some of its readers. I do think there is value in understanding “both sides” of a story; I also think that it doesn’t excuse racist behavior of the male antagonist. In some ways, including the white supremacist perspective minimizes what happens to the main character of this book; this is Ruth’s story, a Black woman’s story. I’m still thinking about where this book lands for me, and maybe that’s a testament to the author too, to start and continue the conversations in places where maybe they have yet to begin.

I’m much more curious to hear how black audiences received this book (I’m Asian).