Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Patsy

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn

16 reviews

nefariousbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this was such a surprise. I picked it almost randomly for a reading challenge and it grabbed me by the heart and squeezed until my chest hurt before I could realize what was happening.
I ugly cried. I relate to Patsy and Cicely's story and seeing the culmination broke something in me. my heart doesn't let go either. and this was a very painful reminder of that.
above all, this books is so honest about so many *ugly* things. the reality of being undocumented, the illusion of ingrained motherhood, the social pressure on queerness. I appreciate the book for all of that so much.
it's not an easy read, but it's one that stays with you.

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annreadsabook's review against another edition

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challenging 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? Yes

4.5

What would you lose to pursue love? To pursue being the truest version of yourself? And what is the “truest version” of yourself, anyway?

These are some of the central questions in Patsy, Nicole Dennis-Benn’s powerfully-written novel that takes place both in rural Jamaica and New York City. When Patsy, the titular character, decides to leave her young daughter Tru in Jamaica to pursue her childhood friend and love Cicely, both Patsy and Tru are left to contend with what it means to be loved and to make space for oneself in the world. Further complicating things, when Patsy arrives to New York, is Cicely’s newfound sense of place in the world—one that might not have space for Patsy.

There is so much to love about this book. Dennis-Benn has some really fascinating commentary in here about womanhood, race, and identity—as a poor, queer Black immigrant in New York City, Patsy comes to understand the ways in which Blackness is coded and understood in different ways. We see her deal with difficulty being taken seriously due to her race and skin tone, but on occasion, non-Black people open up to Patsy more readily because she is quickly understood to be an immigrant (e.g., not one of those “lazy Black people who ask for too much”). And through it all we see Patsy yearning for just a bit of care and love in a world that is meant to wear Black women down.

One of the aspects of this book that intrigued me most was this obsession with whiteness and aspirational whiteness. At almost every turn we’re met with Black folk who glorify green or blue eyes; Black folk who take up residence in glitzy mansions and put down other Black folk in the name of “progress.” Aspirational whiteness is a plague around the world—Patsy can’t escape it even by crossing the sea.

And there’s the question of what we owe ourselves vs. our children. While I was frustrated and torn up by Patsy’s decision to leave Tru in Jamaica, I loved that Dennis-Benn uses Patsy to explore ideas of selfhood and motherhood.

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klawrence1206's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The content was interesting and very thought provoking. The author has a beautiful style to her writing. But for me, parts were disjointed and jumped around between places and points in time. Her editors did an injustice to this book.

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on_a_journey's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.0

I enjoyed this novel. It was a great depiction of how migrating to another country is different for everyone and also how the struggles are similar for people who may have good or decent standing in their previous countries cross over the ocean and just have to make a way possible. Also the quote that depicts this exploration is, the grass is always greener on the other side. The stories presented in this book about the various people that migrated (though the main story is about Patsy) was well thought out. I enjoyed the setting of the times in both Jamaica and America, it was a walk back in recent history. However, I struggled with the child abandonment portion of the story because though Patsy had her reasons I still struggled with understanding why she didn't try to contact Tru for so many years. Also, to make it worse someone had to come into her life to give her a nudge to face her fear and contact her only child. I do agree with previous reviewers that the ending seemed very rushed and I would like to see more about Patsy and Tru rekindling their relationship and not just hear the letter that was written.

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