A review by bookishandlegal
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

I absolutely loved this book! This story follows Betty, a half Cherokee girl growing up in Ohio in the late 50's/60's.  This is mainly a character driven book and follows Betty as she grows up and changes throughout that process. As she's growing up we see the events that happened to Betty and her family throughout her childhood. 
 
The story heavily focuses on Betty's relationship with her father, who she is very close with. The relationship between Betty and her father was so beautiful and it was so nice to read about their relationship and watch it grow as Betty gets older. I absolutely loved the lessons that Betty's dad taught and instilled in her while she was growing up. It was obvious that Betty was his favorite child, but he was honestly such an amazing father and it was clear how much he loved for and cared about his children. His character was in stark contrast to Betty's mother who was dealing with severe depression and often was mean to or indifferent about her children. 
 
While overall happy, Betty had a difficult childhood and went through or heard about a lot of traumatic events and honestly a lot of this book was difficult to read. Because Betty got more of her father's Cherokee physical features she faced a lot of racisms in her small Ohio town. It was difficult at times to read about the blatant and pervasive racism that Betty faced in her life.  The hardest parts I found was the prejudices and treatments that she faced from her teachers. There was also a decent amount of racism and prejudice that Betty faced from her mother herself and that was difficult to read as well. The relationship Betty had with her father and her mother were at stark contrast throughout the entire story. 
 
This is really a classic coming of age story following a young girl as she grows up. If you like family based, coming of age, growing up stories this would be a good one. It remined me heavily of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith while I was reading. 
 
Major content warnings for: incest, rape, sexual abuse, familial sexual abuse, racism, suicide attempts, self harm 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings