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Betty
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Historical Fiction (2020)A stunning, lyrical novel set in the rolling foothills of the Appalachians in which a young girl discovers stark truths that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
"A girl comes of age against the knife."
So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence--both from outside the family, and also, devastatingly, from within. The lush landscape, rich with birdsong, wild fruit, and blazing stars, becomes a kind of refuge for Betty, but when her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, she has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.
But despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters, and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write. She recounts the horrors of her family's past and present with pen and paper and buries them deep in the dirt--moments that has stung her so deeply, she could not tell them, until now.
Inspired by the life of her own mother, Tiffany McDaniel sets out to free the past by telling this heartbreaking yet magical story--a remarkable novel that establishes her as one of the freshest and most important voices in American fiction.
"A girl comes of age against the knife."
So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence--both from outside the family, and also, devastatingly, from within. The lush landscape, rich with birdsong, wild fruit, and blazing stars, becomes a kind of refuge for Betty, but when her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, she has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.
But despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters, and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write. She recounts the horrors of her family's past and present with pen and paper and buries them deep in the dirt--moments that has stung her so deeply, she could not tell them, until now.
Inspired by the life of her own mother, Tiffany McDaniel sets out to free the past by telling this heartbreaking yet magical story--a remarkable novel that establishes her as one of the freshest and most important voices in American fiction.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published August 18, 2020
About the author
Tiffany McDaniel
6 books1,884 followersTIFFANY McDANIEL is the international bestselling author of Betty, The Summer that Melted Everything, and On the Savage Side. She is the winner of over a dozen literary prizes, including the Guardian's Not the Booker, Friends of American Writers Chicago, the Society of Midland Authors, and the FNAC. Her debut Middle Grade fantasy series, A Sky Full of Dragons, is forthcoming, August 27, 2024. Tiffany was awarded the prestigious title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in July 2021.
She lives with cats and a dog surrounded by the trees and wildlife that she loves. When not writing, she may be found in the garden.
Follow Tiffany on Instagram @authortiffanymcdaniel
To learn more visit tiffanymcdaniel.com or thewandkeepers.com
She lives with cats and a dog surrounded by the trees and wildlife that she loves. When not writing, she may be found in the garden.
Follow Tiffany on Instagram @authortiffanymcdaniel
To learn more visit tiffanymcdaniel.com or thewandkeepers.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 7,294 reviews
August 18, 2020
NOW AVAILABLE!!! HEYYY YOU GUYS!!!! IT'S AVAILABLE!!!
i enjoyed The Summer that Melted Everything a bunch, but Betty; a standalone with spillover into TSTME, has so much more weight. i remember bits and pieces from The Summer that Melted Everything—i remember the language being striking, i remember the framework and a few details in particular, but this one is going to stay in my brain for a lot longer, and there are specific scenes i know are with me for life; not as fond memories of a book i enjoyed, but as straight-up reader scars.
for me, that’s a good thing, but some people’ll be too gentle for this book, and they will read it and low-star it because it made them too sad or uncomfortable but when you consider it's a family saga inspired by the life of mcdaniel’s own mother, it becomes like that joke about the man and the boy walking through the woods, where the boy says “hey mister, it’s getting dark and i’m scared.” and the man says “how do you think i feel, i have to walk back alone.”
[‘course, in this case, it would be a girl—there are so many ways a girl can hurt. and if A girl comes of age against the knife isn’t just begging to be tattooed across all the clavicles of lilith fair, i don’t know what is.]
in any event—i don’t know what is hand-on-bible truth here, or what has been inflated for dramatic effect, but even if everything in this book was conjured up out of the clear blue sky, day after day this world reminds us it is full of horrorshows and people who have survived things others are too lily-livered to even read about. and that, to me, seems insensitive.
this book is sad. it is SAD. it is beautiful and broken and filled with tenderness and love and cruelty and neglect and it is SEARING. i cannot emphasize enough that, like life, it is a mixture of sad and lovely. although, also like life, for every sad you see coming, there’ll be two that’ll catch you off guard.
i will admit, it took me a minute to get into it. the language isn’t as engorged as it was in The Summer that Melted Everything, but there was something a little fiddly and twee to the beginning that didn’t grab me right away but once it did, i was thunderstruck, rapt, unable to look away &etc. i belonged to it.
mcdaniel has excellent control of the narrative, handling foreshadowing and discovery like a boss, and making you care about (almost) every member of this family, even at their least sympathetic.
a loud recommend for this book. it did things to me.
*oh and p.s—whatever landon's “pudding pie” is; this wondrous magic of “multicolored gelatin cubes suspended in pink gelatin,” i want the recipe.*
come to my blog!
i enjoyed The Summer that Melted Everything a bunch, but Betty; a standalone with spillover into TSTME, has so much more weight. i remember bits and pieces from The Summer that Melted Everything—i remember the language being striking, i remember the framework and a few details in particular, but this one is going to stay in my brain for a lot longer, and there are specific scenes i know are with me for life; not as fond memories of a book i enjoyed, but as straight-up reader scars.
for me, that’s a good thing, but some people’ll be too gentle for this book, and they will read it and low-star it because it made them too sad or uncomfortable but when you consider it's a family saga inspired by the life of mcdaniel’s own mother, it becomes like that joke about the man and the boy walking through the woods, where the boy says “hey mister, it’s getting dark and i’m scared.” and the man says “how do you think i feel, i have to walk back alone.”
[‘course, in this case, it would be a girl—there are so many ways a girl can hurt. and if A girl comes of age against the knife isn’t just begging to be tattooed across all the clavicles of lilith fair, i don’t know what is.]
in any event—i don’t know what is hand-on-bible truth here, or what has been inflated for dramatic effect, but even if everything in this book was conjured up out of the clear blue sky, day after day this world reminds us it is full of horrorshows and people who have survived things others are too lily-livered to even read about. and that, to me, seems insensitive.
this book is sad. it is SAD. it is beautiful and broken and filled with tenderness and love and cruelty and neglect and it is SEARING. i cannot emphasize enough that, like life, it is a mixture of sad and lovely. although, also like life, for every sad you see coming, there’ll be two that’ll catch you off guard.
i will admit, it took me a minute to get into it. the language isn’t as engorged as it was in The Summer that Melted Everything, but there was something a little fiddly and twee to the beginning that didn’t grab me right away but once it did, i was thunderstruck, rapt, unable to look away &etc. i belonged to it.
mcdaniel has excellent control of the narrative, handling foreshadowing and discovery like a boss, and making you care about (almost) every member of this family, even at their least sympathetic.
a loud recommend for this book. it did things to me.
”God hates us.”
“The Carpenters?” I asked.
“Women.” She dabbed the lipstick against my lips, using her pinkie to smooth it into the corners. “He made us from the rib of man. That has been our curse ever since. Because of it, men have the shovel and we have the land. It’s right between our legs. There, they can bury all their sins. Bury ‘em so deep, no one knows about ‘em except for them and us.”
With a delicate step back she looked at me, her eyes cutting where they landed.
“My, my, Betty girl.” she smiled. “Red is not your color, darlin’.”
*oh and p.s—whatever landon's “pudding pie” is; this wondrous magic of “multicolored gelatin cubes suspended in pink gelatin,” i want the recipe.*
come to my blog!
August 5, 2020
More than five-star worthy, my favorite book of summer 2020. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I read and loved The Summer That Melted Everything when it published four years ago. Incidentally, I won a copy of that book from a blog giveaway, and since it was autographed, I was put in contact with the author and quickly found she is as lovely and kind as I imagined she’d be.
When you read one of her books, now that I have two under my belt, I can say this with absolute certainty, the reader knows she has something special in her hands. Books don’t come written like this every day. Storytelling isn’t always this memorable. And you know all know I love books and authors, so at the heart of what I am saying is I absolutely adored this book. It’s THE book. My book of summer.
Betty is a story based on the author’s mother’s life. It’s written in first person with Betty narrating. She shares the earliest history of both her parents, and then takes us through the family’s life as her siblings are born, before and after she is born, and up through the years as she comes-of-age.
Growing up in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, in small town, Breathed, Ohio, which is a character all its own, Betty’s first person narrative is an intimate storytelling. She brings us right into the story, alongside her dear family, and this family? They have a loving father named Landon, a Cherokee storyteller who passes his gift on to Betty (and likewise to Tiffany, the author). Every story he shares is a glorious explanation of the way the world works. This humble, dear, vulnerable, loving father? I don’t think I could love a character more.
Betty’s mother, Alka, has a tormented past, and she has her share of difficulty with mental health as a result. The author writes about this with honesty and openness, while showing how most of the family adapts, supporting one another. There’s such tenderness between many of the characters, such complete devotion. There’s complexity, too, where their human nature comes into play, the push and pull so many families experience in their dynamic. No one is perfect, and Betty, with her insightful narrative doesn’t hide anything from the reader. Betty is bold and strong and completely authentic.
The family experiences a number of difficulties, big heartbreaks, strife, and losses, and every single time, Betty gets back up again. And through all of that, the family has each other. Some of the siblings are present for each other the most loving way. Landon is there to comfort, guide, and believe in his children, when they struggle to find meaning themselves.
When I was a mere 5% into this book, I fretted about not wanting it to end. This book is THAT good. The characters are living, breathing, loving, and endearing. They go through the darkest and most unsettling of times, and I was with them for every bit of this journey I never wanted to end.
I voted for The Summer That Melted Everything to win every literary prize in 2016. I will be right there shouting from the rooftops that I loved this book. Please be aware that while I call this book beautiful in so many ways, dark things happen to and within this family. That is not what this book is about. Powerful, emotional, beautifully descriptive and haunting, I will never forget Betty, her indelible story, or the way she shared it through her daughter’s masterful skill.
This review is a work in progress. I’ll be back to clean it up, and as I process more what this book means to me. ❤️
While I received a gifted copy early copy, I preordered both US and UK copies on my own. (Yes, I HAD to have the signed Waterstone’s special edition from the UK! Why doesn’t the US do more special editions?!)
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
I read and loved The Summer That Melted Everything when it published four years ago. Incidentally, I won a copy of that book from a blog giveaway, and since it was autographed, I was put in contact with the author and quickly found she is as lovely and kind as I imagined she’d be.
When you read one of her books, now that I have two under my belt, I can say this with absolute certainty, the reader knows she has something special in her hands. Books don’t come written like this every day. Storytelling isn’t always this memorable. And you know all know I love books and authors, so at the heart of what I am saying is I absolutely adored this book. It’s THE book. My book of summer.
Betty is a story based on the author’s mother’s life. It’s written in first person with Betty narrating. She shares the earliest history of both her parents, and then takes us through the family’s life as her siblings are born, before and after she is born, and up through the years as she comes-of-age.
Growing up in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, in small town, Breathed, Ohio, which is a character all its own, Betty’s first person narrative is an intimate storytelling. She brings us right into the story, alongside her dear family, and this family? They have a loving father named Landon, a Cherokee storyteller who passes his gift on to Betty (and likewise to Tiffany, the author). Every story he shares is a glorious explanation of the way the world works. This humble, dear, vulnerable, loving father? I don’t think I could love a character more.
Betty’s mother, Alka, has a tormented past, and she has her share of difficulty with mental health as a result. The author writes about this with honesty and openness, while showing how most of the family adapts, supporting one another. There’s such tenderness between many of the characters, such complete devotion. There’s complexity, too, where their human nature comes into play, the push and pull so many families experience in their dynamic. No one is perfect, and Betty, with her insightful narrative doesn’t hide anything from the reader. Betty is bold and strong and completely authentic.
The family experiences a number of difficulties, big heartbreaks, strife, and losses, and every single time, Betty gets back up again. And through all of that, the family has each other. Some of the siblings are present for each other the most loving way. Landon is there to comfort, guide, and believe in his children, when they struggle to find meaning themselves.
When I was a mere 5% into this book, I fretted about not wanting it to end. This book is THAT good. The characters are living, breathing, loving, and endearing. They go through the darkest and most unsettling of times, and I was with them for every bit of this journey I never wanted to end.
I voted for The Summer That Melted Everything to win every literary prize in 2016. I will be right there shouting from the rooftops that I loved this book. Please be aware that while I call this book beautiful in so many ways, dark things happen to and within this family. That is not what this book is about. Powerful, emotional, beautifully descriptive and haunting, I will never forget Betty, her indelible story, or the way she shared it through her daughter’s masterful skill.
This review is a work in progress. I’ll be back to clean it up, and as I process more what this book means to me. ❤️
While I received a gifted copy early copy, I preordered both US and UK copies on my own. (Yes, I HAD to have the signed Waterstone’s special edition from the UK! Why doesn’t the US do more special editions?!)
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
August 19, 2020
4+ strong stars for this unforgettable story!
This is a story about family. Betty is the daughter of a white mother and Cherokee father. Of all her siblings, Betty develops the most physical traits of her Cherokee heritage. Betty’s father takes pride in teaching his children the stories of his ancestors and passing down his family traditions involving the healing powers of plants and herbs. Betty’s family struggles to fit in no matter where they live, but her family unit keeps her grounded and confident that things will get better. Based on the authors’ mothers’ life, this story is brutally honest, haunting and exceptionally well written.
I will warn you that this is not a book to read if you are feeling emotionally vulnerable in any way. There are several ugly, gut wrenching, dark and horrific scenes. Yet, as uncomfortable as those scenes were to read, the exquisite writing pulled me so deeply inside this family that I simply couldn’t turn away from them. My heart ached for what this family endured, yet I remained hopeful for them.
The main theme of the strong sense of family bond and loyalty was captured so perfectly. I was teary eyed more than a few times while experiencing the love and comfort these siblings offered each other.
This was a sad but beautiful story that I highly recommend. Thank you to the author for sending me a review copy!
This is a story about family. Betty is the daughter of a white mother and Cherokee father. Of all her siblings, Betty develops the most physical traits of her Cherokee heritage. Betty’s father takes pride in teaching his children the stories of his ancestors and passing down his family traditions involving the healing powers of plants and herbs. Betty’s family struggles to fit in no matter where they live, but her family unit keeps her grounded and confident that things will get better. Based on the authors’ mothers’ life, this story is brutally honest, haunting and exceptionally well written.
I will warn you that this is not a book to read if you are feeling emotionally vulnerable in any way. There are several ugly, gut wrenching, dark and horrific scenes. Yet, as uncomfortable as those scenes were to read, the exquisite writing pulled me so deeply inside this family that I simply couldn’t turn away from them. My heart ached for what this family endured, yet I remained hopeful for them.
The main theme of the strong sense of family bond and loyalty was captured so perfectly. I was teary eyed more than a few times while experiencing the love and comfort these siblings offered each other.
This was a sad but beautiful story that I highly recommend. Thank you to the author for sending me a review copy!
January 22, 2023
This book wasn't perfect. It annoyed me, for example, the way Betty and her siblings seemed to communicate in complex metaphors from the moment they found their tongues. I was also frustrated by a few of the chapters, which were so fantastically over-the-top that the book started to feel more like a work of magical realism than semi-biography. But having said that, this novel kicked ASS and made its points so clearly, so beautifully, so FURIOUSLY that I can't bear to offer less than five stars.
October 22, 2021
“When I was your age, I wanted to be someone else too.”
“Who’d you wanna be, Dad?”
“Someone important. You know why I call you Little Indian? So that you know you’re already someone important.”
This is the story of Betty Carpenter and her family as they move from place to place until they finally settle in Breathed, Ohio on the foothills of the Appalachian mountains.
The Carpenters don’t fit in anywhere. Betty’s father, Landon, is Cherokee and her mother, Alka, is white. Betty, of all of her siblings inherited the most of her fathers Cherokee features finds it hard to blend in and come to terms with her place in the world. She finds solace and comfort in her family and Landon’s stories as he teaches his children to love the land and to never forget their ancestors and where they came from.
Through the years of poverty and struggle in Breathed, Betty witnesses horrors of cruelty and violence. Needing an escape she writes these events down, tells the stories of her family’s dark past and present, and buries it deep in the ground.
We follow the family from the 1930s — the moment Landon and Alka meet — until Betty, their youngest daughter enters adulthood.
This book was equally hard to read and magical at the same time. The first thing that swept me away was the writing. It was enchanting and lyricle. Poetic and mesmerising.
I don’t know if it’s because this book was more personal to the author or what? — but the way she wrote the setting and the characters was spectacular. It all felt so real and the characters each felt so distinct.
Some characters I hated with all my guts (if you know, you know 👀). And others I loved with all my heart: first and foremost being Landon, Betty’s dad.
It was such a pleasure reading about him. Everything he taught his kids, his stories. I just- *sniffles* – love him so much.
‘I realized then that not only did Dad need us to believe his stories, we needed to believe them as well. To believe in unripe stars and eagles able to do extraordinary things. What it boiled down to was a frenzied hope that there was more to life than the reality around us. Only then could we claim a destiny we did not feel cursed to.’
Betty herself was also such an amazing character. Her resilience in the face all she witnessed at such a young age had me astounded. This small girl, had to bear the burden of others and still she was so pure and brave.
As I said there were difficult scenes in this book. Personally I dislike stumbling onto a scene and having it take me off guard. I’d prefer to know what I’m getting into. So I feel I should warn you if you’re going to pick this up that there are scenes of incestuous rape. I’ll leave the content warnings below 👇.
Betty was filled with hard truths and brutal honesty. But don’t let that discourage you from picking this up. I am glad I went into Betty with my eyes open. It would have upset me more if I had not expected the more graphic scenes, but I knew to look out for them.
This book is in fact based on the true story of the authors mother, Betty. Reading her dedication and her acknowledgements at the end of the book touched my heart.
I am going to try to get my hands on the authors debut novel, The Summer that Melted Everything, which was also set in the same town. I am officially obsessed with Tiffany McDaniel’s writing!!
Betty is one of the best books I’ve read this year and will be added to my favourites list! And I will talk about it non stop to the point where everyone will be annoyed with me so they’ll read the book just to get me to be quiet ✌
CONTENT WARNINGS: violence; child abuse; animal abuse; incest; rape; suicide; abortion
« Thank you to the publishers for sending me this copy for review »
February 5, 2024
My heart is shattered in a million pieces.
November 9, 2020
Tiffany McDaniel has joined us for a spoiler-free Q & A in our Behind the Pages and gave us some great insight into Betty's story and her journey to getting her story of the shelves. Don't miss reading what she has to say!
You can find the thread here
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Betty is a story inspired by Tiffany McDaniel's mother, Betty and her family secrets. It's a story of abuse, racism and poverty but a story of love through the strong connections Betty has with her father Landon and her siblings. It's also an Appalachian story with Cherokee stories and history. It's not an easy read at times and might not be for the lighter more gentle minded reader; however, it's one of those stories that shows us the dark to see the light in the world around us.
It is remarkable, stunningly and shockingly sad and heartbreaking, filled with as much love as it is devasting. It's the beautiful way it's written that made it impressive to me. We see the horrors of Betty's family past and present and my emotions ran wild with the cruelty inflicted on the characters. With Tiffany's use of words, I could see the beauty she and Betty found in love, family, Betty's father's stories and their connection to the Appalachian land. I could feel Tiffany's passion for telling Betty's family's story with all its beauty and ugliness.
"I remember the fierce love and devotion as much as I remember the violence." "our family tree grew with rotten, broken branches and fungus on the leaves."
Tiffany McDaniel takes her time here as she paints us a vivid picture of the stories Landan shares with Betty and his ways. The story is rich in the everyday life of the characters that is as bold as it is normal. At times it did feel a bit much for me, making the book feel longer than it needed to be and at times, I lost some focus.
At times the sadness might feel relentless because it's so horrifying but I thought Tiffany McDaniel balanced it with the love, connections and stories she shared with us through Landon. I kept imagining how relentless the violence might have felt for Tiffany and Betty and how much courage they both had in telling their stories.
This is a story that is as beautiful as it is ugly!
I received a copy from Tiffany McDaniel to read and review.
You can find the thread here
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Betty is a story inspired by Tiffany McDaniel's mother, Betty and her family secrets. It's a story of abuse, racism and poverty but a story of love through the strong connections Betty has with her father Landon and her siblings. It's also an Appalachian story with Cherokee stories and history. It's not an easy read at times and might not be for the lighter more gentle minded reader; however, it's one of those stories that shows us the dark to see the light in the world around us.
It is remarkable, stunningly and shockingly sad and heartbreaking, filled with as much love as it is devasting. It's the beautiful way it's written that made it impressive to me. We see the horrors of Betty's family past and present and my emotions ran wild with the cruelty inflicted on the characters. With Tiffany's use of words, I could see the beauty she and Betty found in love, family, Betty's father's stories and their connection to the Appalachian land. I could feel Tiffany's passion for telling Betty's family's story with all its beauty and ugliness.
"I remember the fierce love and devotion as much as I remember the violence." "our family tree grew with rotten, broken branches and fungus on the leaves."
Tiffany McDaniel takes her time here as she paints us a vivid picture of the stories Landan shares with Betty and his ways. The story is rich in the everyday life of the characters that is as bold as it is normal. At times it did feel a bit much for me, making the book feel longer than it needed to be and at times, I lost some focus.
At times the sadness might feel relentless because it's so horrifying but I thought Tiffany McDaniel balanced it with the love, connections and stories she shared with us through Landon. I kept imagining how relentless the violence might have felt for Tiffany and Betty and how much courage they both had in telling their stories.
This is a story that is as beautiful as it is ugly!
I received a copy from Tiffany McDaniel to read and review.
April 23, 2024
On the Savage Side shook me. It was raw. I’m now circling back to Betty, an earlier work by McDaniel, to see if this has similar sharp edges. It does.
Betty is one of 8 children. Her father is Cherokee and her mother white. They experience discrimination, mental illness, abuse and grief. The struggles and challenges of poverty due to their circumstances. A father who shares his deep roots and traditions of the Cherokee with his children through his story telling and through the connection with the land and wildlife. He is the screw that keeps this family from unhinging.
But, sometimes a dad can’t keep a family from from collapsing. Sometimes small tears turn into unmendable rips.
Betty will bend your heart with all she has witnessed. But even in that darkness, she finds hope, truth and strength.
I remain your faithful fangirl, McDaniel. You’ve blown me away with this one now, too.
Betty is one of 8 children. Her father is Cherokee and her mother white. They experience discrimination, mental illness, abuse and grief. The struggles and challenges of poverty due to their circumstances. A father who shares his deep roots and traditions of the Cherokee with his children through his story telling and through the connection with the land and wildlife. He is the screw that keeps this family from unhinging.
But, sometimes a dad can’t keep a family from from collapsing. Sometimes small tears turn into unmendable rips.
Betty will bend your heart with all she has witnessed. But even in that darkness, she finds hope, truth and strength.
I remain your faithful fangirl, McDaniel. You’ve blown me away with this one now, too.
Want to read
June 24, 2023help, i'm addicted to family dramas and i can't get up
April 8, 2024
‘A girl comes of age against the knife. She must learn to bear its blade. To be cut. To bleed. To scar over and still, somehow, be beautiful and with good enough knees to take the sponge to the kitchen floor every Saturday. You’re either lost or you’re found. These truths argue one another for infinity. And what is infinity but a tangled swear. A cracked circle. A space of fuchsia sky. If we bring it down to earth, infinity is a series of rolling hills. A countryside in Ohio where all the tallgrass snakes know how angels lose their wings.’
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel is an extraordinary literary achievement that deserves every accolade it has received. McDaniel's prose is poetic and piercing, weaving a narrative that transports readers to the heart of Appalachia and into the tumultuous life of Betty Carpenter.
This novel is a raw and unflinching exploration of family, trauma, and the enduring power of hope. McDaniel's character development is nothing short of remarkable. Betty is a protagonist who will linger in readers' minds long after the final page is turned. Her resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy is both inspiring and heartbreaking.
Through Betty's eyes, we witness the beauty and brutality of the world she inhabits, from the lush landscapes of Ohio to the dark corners of her own family secrets. What truly sets Betty apart is McDaniel's ability to capture the essence of human emotion with such depth and authenticity. The novel is a rollercoaster of emotions, from moments of profound sorrow to unexpected bursts of joy. McDaniel tackles difficult subjects with sensitivity and grace, never shying away from the complexities of love, loss, and identity.
In addition to its captivating storytelling, Betty is a triumph of cultural representation. McDaniel paints a vivid portrait of Appalachian life, challenging stereotypes and celebrating the rich tapestry of its people. Her prose is imbued with a deep reverence for the land and its traditions, making it impossible not to fall in love with the world she has created.
Overall, Betty is a masterpiece that transcends genre and leaves an indelible mark on the soul. McDaniel's debut novel is a tour de force of literary fiction, and she is undoubtedly a talent to watch.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, it is a must read for anyone who appreciates the power of storytelling to illuminate the human experience.
My Highest Recommendation.
Thank you Dorian for buddy reading this beautiful book with me.
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel is an extraordinary literary achievement that deserves every accolade it has received. McDaniel's prose is poetic and piercing, weaving a narrative that transports readers to the heart of Appalachia and into the tumultuous life of Betty Carpenter.
This novel is a raw and unflinching exploration of family, trauma, and the enduring power of hope. McDaniel's character development is nothing short of remarkable. Betty is a protagonist who will linger in readers' minds long after the final page is turned. Her resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy is both inspiring and heartbreaking.
Through Betty's eyes, we witness the beauty and brutality of the world she inhabits, from the lush landscapes of Ohio to the dark corners of her own family secrets. What truly sets Betty apart is McDaniel's ability to capture the essence of human emotion with such depth and authenticity. The novel is a rollercoaster of emotions, from moments of profound sorrow to unexpected bursts of joy. McDaniel tackles difficult subjects with sensitivity and grace, never shying away from the complexities of love, loss, and identity.
In addition to its captivating storytelling, Betty is a triumph of cultural representation. McDaniel paints a vivid portrait of Appalachian life, challenging stereotypes and celebrating the rich tapestry of its people. Her prose is imbued with a deep reverence for the land and its traditions, making it impossible not to fall in love with the world she has created.
Overall, Betty is a masterpiece that transcends genre and leaves an indelible mark on the soul. McDaniel's debut novel is a tour de force of literary fiction, and she is undoubtedly a talent to watch.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, it is a must read for anyone who appreciates the power of storytelling to illuminate the human experience.
My Highest Recommendation.
Thank you Dorian for buddy reading this beautiful book with me.
September 11, 2020
This will be among my favorite reads of this year!
The story is based on the life of the author’s mother.
This is a coming of age story set in the rolling hills of Ohio.
A young white woman and a young Cherokee man come together and they marry and have eight children
This is the story of their lives .. they are poor, and the story is filled with tragedy, racial discrimination, abuse, and pain.. but there is such a sweetness too..
The father’s love for his children is the most moving part of this book!
I just loved it!
The story is based on the life of the author’s mother.
This is a coming of age story set in the rolling hills of Ohio.
A young white woman and a young Cherokee man come together and they marry and have eight children
This is the story of their lives .. they are poor, and the story is filled with tragedy, racial discrimination, abuse, and pain.. but there is such a sweetness too..
The father’s love for his children is the most moving part of this book!
I just loved it!
Read
October 22, 2020I was hesitant to start this because I knew it was going to be disturbing. Yet, I decided to read it since a number of my friends rated it so highly. At 40% in I can’t read any further. I’m sorry to abandon Betty , since she’s a character that I loved. I gave up when Betty’s mother started to tell her a story from her past as a birthday present to Betty on her ninth birthday. Up to this point, the story is well written, sad, horrible, and disturbing, with moments of love and beauty , but I just couldn’t continue. I’m not going to rate it since I didn’t finish it .
I received a copy of this book from Knopf through Edelweiss.
I received a copy of this book from Knopf through Edelweiss.
April 1, 2021
For 6 days this book filled up my heart and then drained it. Filled it up. Drained it. The last 75 pages absolutely killed me. One of the most tragic, beautifully written books I’ve ever read in my life.
I don't know what to say about this story that isn't more eloquently stated somewhere else. Even the synopsis pretty much says it all.
All I can give you is my unique reading experience?
I was intimidated by the book's size. I'm used to reading horror day in and day out which typically lands somewhere in the sweet spot between 300-200 pages.
This book is well over 400, almost 500 pages but let me spare you the anxiety--it reads like a book half that size. I was 100 pages into it within an hour of sitting down with it. Tiffany McDaniel absolutely writes her ass off. I was pulling quotes to savor and cherish from the prologue.
If I can date myself a little, reading this book immediately took me back to my experience with BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA by Dorothy Allison. Both tales are more true than fiction and explore themes of race, classism, and the cycle of sexual/physical abuse. I knew BETTY would break my heart in all the same ways and I was not wrong. But I didn't lock it down or spare myself any of the details, I opened right up to the journey and jumped in headlong.
It's painful. This book hurt so bad. There were times when I just laid it down in my lap with my finger marking the spot where I left off and let myself just have a good cry. Goddamn if the author doesn't just make you fall helplessly in love with the characters. I knew it was dangerous, to let my heart get so emotionally attached, but that's the magic of being an avid reader, isn't it?
That danger of knowing you're doing something that will make your empathy go off the rails into total and complete emotional wreckage.
I allowed it. You will too. Because this book is worth it. It will live in the tapestry of my soul forever and ever and I will always carry it around with me. I'll recommend it to other readers who have that same look of longing in their eyes--the readers you know just want to be broken; utterly destroyed by the tragic lives of our fictional friends and heroes.
Betty is hands down, a Great American Novel. Legendary. Haunting. Tragic. Painful, Magical. Beautiful. Memorable. You need it for your shelves. Slide it into place between your Steinbeck and your Bradbury. It's a classic.
I don't know what to say about this story that isn't more eloquently stated somewhere else. Even the synopsis pretty much says it all.
All I can give you is my unique reading experience?
I was intimidated by the book's size. I'm used to reading horror day in and day out which typically lands somewhere in the sweet spot between 300-200 pages.
This book is well over 400, almost 500 pages but let me spare you the anxiety--it reads like a book half that size. I was 100 pages into it within an hour of sitting down with it. Tiffany McDaniel absolutely writes her ass off. I was pulling quotes to savor and cherish from the prologue.
If I can date myself a little, reading this book immediately took me back to my experience with BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA by Dorothy Allison. Both tales are more true than fiction and explore themes of race, classism, and the cycle of sexual/physical abuse. I knew BETTY would break my heart in all the same ways and I was not wrong. But I didn't lock it down or spare myself any of the details, I opened right up to the journey and jumped in headlong.
It's painful. This book hurt so bad. There were times when I just laid it down in my lap with my finger marking the spot where I left off and let myself just have a good cry. Goddamn if the author doesn't just make you fall helplessly in love with the characters. I knew it was dangerous, to let my heart get so emotionally attached, but that's the magic of being an avid reader, isn't it?
That danger of knowing you're doing something that will make your empathy go off the rails into total and complete emotional wreckage.
I allowed it. You will too. Because this book is worth it. It will live in the tapestry of my soul forever and ever and I will always carry it around with me. I'll recommend it to other readers who have that same look of longing in their eyes--the readers you know just want to be broken; utterly destroyed by the tragic lives of our fictional friends and heroes.
Betty is hands down, a Great American Novel. Legendary. Haunting. Tragic. Painful, Magical. Beautiful. Memorable. You need it for your shelves. Slide it into place between your Steinbeck and your Bradbury. It's a classic.
October 19, 2020
Incredible book!!!
Brutal....
Beautiful ...
Betty ... BETTY... Betty....
....I’ll never forget Betty and this gorgeously written story.
This coming-of-age story about a girl of mixed race ...based on the authors real life family history...(her mother, *Betty*, at the heart of Tiffany McDaniel’s inspiration), is masterfully told.
It deals with abuse, sexual abuse, racism, poverty, prejudice, family secrets, guilt, sexism, suicide, and other family tragedies.
Historically epic... this family saga is emotional....
It’s beauty and love shines through the exceptional storytelling...
Fantastic characters and dialogue...
...Nature to dig your teeth into...
...rather ‘hands-and-feet’ in the rich soil of the earth...
...Magical and moving Cherokee myths & legends: deeply touching tales a father, (Landon), passes on to Betty...
... memorable scenes I’ll never forget: mama making homemade noodles in her kitchen while barefoot....
...Betty and her siblings..
be it in the woods or in their house: ( sometimes the story had a childlike fairytale ‘feel’)... but with the devastations - it’s not a child’s book)
I was left breathless...
...It’s enchanting and devastating...
...beautiful and cruel
... intensified sadness with vicious acts...
But....
the strength and dreams for a better life...in the rolling hills of the Ohio Appalachians is like a rising sun of brightness.
“A girl comes of age against the knife. She must learn to bear its blade. To be cut. To bleed. To scar over and still,
somehow be beautiful and with good enough knees to take the sponge of the kitchen floor every Saturday...
I remember the fierce love and devotion as much as I remember the violence”.
5+++++ stars
A years favorite!!!!!
Brutal....
Beautiful ...
Betty ... BETTY... Betty....
....I’ll never forget Betty and this gorgeously written story.
This coming-of-age story about a girl of mixed race ...based on the authors real life family history...(her mother, *Betty*, at the heart of Tiffany McDaniel’s inspiration), is masterfully told.
It deals with abuse, sexual abuse, racism, poverty, prejudice, family secrets, guilt, sexism, suicide, and other family tragedies.
Historically epic... this family saga is emotional....
It’s beauty and love shines through the exceptional storytelling...
Fantastic characters and dialogue...
...Nature to dig your teeth into...
...rather ‘hands-and-feet’ in the rich soil of the earth...
...Magical and moving Cherokee myths & legends: deeply touching tales a father, (Landon), passes on to Betty...
... memorable scenes I’ll never forget: mama making homemade noodles in her kitchen while barefoot....
...Betty and her siblings..
be it in the woods or in their house: ( sometimes the story had a childlike fairytale ‘feel’)... but with the devastations - it’s not a child’s book)
I was left breathless...
...It’s enchanting and devastating...
...beautiful and cruel
... intensified sadness with vicious acts...
But....
the strength and dreams for a better life...in the rolling hills of the Ohio Appalachians is like a rising sun of brightness.
“A girl comes of age against the knife. She must learn to bear its blade. To be cut. To bleed. To scar over and still,
somehow be beautiful and with good enough knees to take the sponge of the kitchen floor every Saturday...
I remember the fierce love and devotion as much as I remember the violence”.
5+++++ stars
A years favorite!!!!!
June 26, 2020
Believe me when I say that I really wanted to love this novel. Like many others I was a big fan of McDaniel's debut novel, The Summer that Melted Everything - in fact it was one of my favourite novels of the year: the atmosphere of Breathed, Ohio (pronounced Breath Ed) felt perfectly evoked, the story of Sal and the locals was gripping and the writing was pitch perfect. So it's with great sadness that I'm reviewing this book unfavourably, but Betty had one too many issues which in the end I couldn't make myself overlook.
The novel follows the eponymous Betty, the third daughter (and fourth child) of the Carpenter family. Betty grows up in Breathed with her 5 siblings in a house from which the previous family disappeared, missing and presumed murdered due to the bullet holes found in the walls. Betty's father is Cherokee, her mother white, yet she is the only child with her father's dark hair and complexion. As a result Betty is the victim of merciless racism from kids at school, townspeople and even her own siblings. The bulk of the plot is made up of telling the story of Betty's life between the ages of 6/7 to 15, weaved together with tales of her siblings and their fates.
I note that the blurb mentions this to be the story of how Betty becomes a writer, but this almost felt tacked on and made up a very small portion of the story - yes, it was made clear that she liked words and a few of her poems were mentioned, but this thread didn't extend much beyond these small moments. The novel instead becomes a relentless account of all of the awful things that happen to Betty and her immediate family - I don't want to get too spoilery but these include (amongst many others) racism, incest, rape and multiple examples of animal abuse, with the latter in particular feeling like it was inserted just for shock value and one main incidence of this happened and then was never mentioned again. I just didn't buy any of it -- my take was that Betty is only truly loved by her two younger brothers and her father, and the narrative read like repetitive misery porn for the most part for this reader.
And now on to the writing. I found McDaniel's way with words to be captivating when I read her debut back in 2016, but the writing in Betty felt so incredibly overwrought and self-conscious and flowery, with faux-deep imagery which on closer examination lacks meaning. Someone was described as being "no meaner than a cold morning without socks". Sorry, what?!
That said, the book wasn't without some good moments. Betty's relationship with her two younger brothers was nicely done, and I did like her as a character. Looking at all the highly positive advance reviews it seems I'm an outlier with my views, but given that this was one of my most anticipated novels of the year I can't help but feel very disappointed.
Thank you Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
The novel follows the eponymous Betty, the third daughter (and fourth child) of the Carpenter family. Betty grows up in Breathed with her 5 siblings in a house from which the previous family disappeared, missing and presumed murdered due to the bullet holes found in the walls. Betty's father is Cherokee, her mother white, yet she is the only child with her father's dark hair and complexion. As a result Betty is the victim of merciless racism from kids at school, townspeople and even her own siblings. The bulk of the plot is made up of telling the story of Betty's life between the ages of 6/7 to 15, weaved together with tales of her siblings and their fates.
I note that the blurb mentions this to be the story of how Betty becomes a writer, but this almost felt tacked on and made up a very small portion of the story - yes, it was made clear that she liked words and a few of her poems were mentioned, but this thread didn't extend much beyond these small moments. The novel instead becomes a relentless account of all of the awful things that happen to Betty and her immediate family - I don't want to get too spoilery but these include (amongst many others) racism, incest, rape and multiple examples of animal abuse, with the latter in particular feeling like it was inserted just for shock value and one main incidence of this happened and then was never mentioned again. I just didn't buy any of it -- my take was that Betty is only truly loved by her two younger brothers and her father, and the narrative read like repetitive misery porn for the most part for this reader.
And now on to the writing. I found McDaniel's way with words to be captivating when I read her debut back in 2016, but the writing in Betty felt so incredibly overwrought and self-conscious and flowery, with faux-deep imagery which on closer examination lacks meaning. Someone was described as being "no meaner than a cold morning without socks". Sorry, what?!
That said, the book wasn't without some good moments. Betty's relationship with her two younger brothers was nicely done, and I did like her as a character. Looking at all the highly positive advance reviews it seems I'm an outlier with my views, but given that this was one of my most anticipated novels of the year I can't help but feel very disappointed.
Thank you Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
August 7, 2020
’I’m a child, only as tall as my father’s shotgun…When I sit next to him, I can feel the summer heat coming off his skin like he’s just another tin roof on a hot day.’
Her mother tells her stories, dark, filled with ominous warnings about what life is like for women. She knows from experience. Her father tells her stories, too, some from his family, Cherokee legends, and some from his heart - and one about his heart - a heart that is made of glass. When she asks how a piece of glass is inside him, he tells her:
’It’s hanging’ in there from a sweet little string. Within the glass is the bird God caught all the way up in heaven.’
‘Why’d He put a bird in there?’ she asks.
So a little piece of heaven would always be in our hearts. Safest place for a piece of heaven, I reckon.
And when he lays her head on his chest, asking her if she knows what that sound is from, she tells him it’s the beating of his heart, but he replies that ’It’s the noise of the little bird flappin’ her wings.’
But this story is Betty’s, and it’s quite a story she has to tell. A story filled with her love for her father and her sisters, especially, but also with racism, and the many scars of childhood, and life. Coming from a family of eight children, Betty has five older siblings, when she is born, in a bathtub, in Ozark, Arkansas in 1954. Two younger siblings will follow, and money is tight, and that’s when this story really begins to take shape, after the youngest, Lint, was born and they decide to move, again. They are living in an old, rundown house that they bought sight unseen, in the southern Appalachia town of Breathed, Ohio, the location of the author’s debut novel The Summer That Melted Everything. settling in Breathed. Tales of older times pop up now and then, some of which serve as a warning.
There’s so much love in this story, as well as things to love. I loved the stage that Betty’s father builds for her and her sisters, one like his mother had in her garden, and the garden of her mother, and so on back to the beginnin’ of time where the women and girls would sing to keep the crows and insects away. Their singing seeped into the ground, enriching the soil, and the garden thrived from their songs. Men and boys weren’t included, since it was the girls and women chosen, the ones given the power that Nature recognized.
For every time this story broke my heart, McDaniel pieced it back together again. I loved the connection that Betty has with her sisters despite how broken they seem to be at times, how desperate they are to escape this place and be seen as being worthy of love, but especially with her father. I loved that despite everything in her life that might break another person, Betty seems to bear the burdens, and to thrive despite the adversity. The stories of her father offering her solace and fuels her desire to be more like him, to be a storyteller.
Pub Date: 18 Aug 2020
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Knopf / Random House
Her mother tells her stories, dark, filled with ominous warnings about what life is like for women. She knows from experience. Her father tells her stories, too, some from his family, Cherokee legends, and some from his heart - and one about his heart - a heart that is made of glass. When she asks how a piece of glass is inside him, he tells her:
’It’s hanging’ in there from a sweet little string. Within the glass is the bird God caught all the way up in heaven.’
‘Why’d He put a bird in there?’ she asks.
So a little piece of heaven would always be in our hearts. Safest place for a piece of heaven, I reckon.
And when he lays her head on his chest, asking her if she knows what that sound is from, she tells him it’s the beating of his heart, but he replies that ’It’s the noise of the little bird flappin’ her wings.’
But this story is Betty’s, and it’s quite a story she has to tell. A story filled with her love for her father and her sisters, especially, but also with racism, and the many scars of childhood, and life. Coming from a family of eight children, Betty has five older siblings, when she is born, in a bathtub, in Ozark, Arkansas in 1954. Two younger siblings will follow, and money is tight, and that’s when this story really begins to take shape, after the youngest, Lint, was born and they decide to move, again. They are living in an old, rundown house that they bought sight unseen, in the southern Appalachia town of Breathed, Ohio, the location of the author’s debut novel The Summer That Melted Everything. settling in Breathed. Tales of older times pop up now and then, some of which serve as a warning.
There’s so much love in this story, as well as things to love. I loved the stage that Betty’s father builds for her and her sisters, one like his mother had in her garden, and the garden of her mother, and so on back to the beginnin’ of time where the women and girls would sing to keep the crows and insects away. Their singing seeped into the ground, enriching the soil, and the garden thrived from their songs. Men and boys weren’t included, since it was the girls and women chosen, the ones given the power that Nature recognized.
For every time this story broke my heart, McDaniel pieced it back together again. I loved the connection that Betty has with her sisters despite how broken they seem to be at times, how desperate they are to escape this place and be seen as being worthy of love, but especially with her father. I loved that despite everything in her life that might break another person, Betty seems to bear the burdens, and to thrive despite the adversity. The stories of her father offering her solace and fuels her desire to be more like him, to be a storyteller.
Pub Date: 18 Aug 2020
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Knopf / Random House
July 6, 2020
There is a level of emotional pain that I find almost unbearable—usually evoked by stories of animal or child abuse. The only remedy for me, other than shutting down completely, is vacuuming. Suffice it to say that the experience reading Betty left me with the cleanest carpet and wood floor I've ever had.
The book was at times so excruciating that I had to stop reading and not only clean but lie on the couch and pant in pain. Nevertheless, this is a very good novel—a story based on the author's mother's childhood. A story of the abuse white culture heaps on Native people. That men heap on women and children. That crazy people heap on every living thing. It is well written, very different from Tiffany McDaniel's first published novel, The Summer that Melted Everything, but birthed way earlier (and its ending makes it seem like a prequel to the first novel). Betty starts out as a child's story, and had it stayed that way, I might have lost interest. But the writer's mature skill moved it into the adult fiction category, with one of the lovingest father characters I've ever read.
*ARC provided by publisher.
The book was at times so excruciating that I had to stop reading and not only clean but lie on the couch and pant in pain. Nevertheless, this is a very good novel—a story based on the author's mother's childhood. A story of the abuse white culture heaps on Native people. That men heap on women and children. That crazy people heap on every living thing. It is well written, very different from Tiffany McDaniel's first published novel, The Summer that Melted Everything, but birthed way earlier (and its ending makes it seem like a prequel to the first novel). Betty starts out as a child's story, and had it stayed that way, I might have lost interest. But the writer's mature skill moved it into the adult fiction category, with one of the lovingest father characters I've ever read.
*ARC provided by publisher.
Want to read
October 25, 2023alright guys. it's finally time for me to read this. absolutely not emotionally prepared enough.
August 18, 2021
although ‘betty’ is the first book that tiffany mcdaniel wrote, it took almost 2 decades to be published as it was considered ‘too dark’, ‘too personal’, ‘too female’, and mcdaniel was told it would sell better if it featured a male protagonist instead. these comments entirely miss what gives the book its beauty and power, as ‘betty’ is a fictionalised account of mcdaniel’s real family history and cherokee heritage with her mother betty carpenter at the forefront. along with a haunting coming of age tale, it’s also a story about survival against racism, poverty, patriarchy, and the cycle of abuse that runs throughout generations of women.
the writing in this book is absolutely beautiful, and i was in awe of how mcdaniel could craft such pretty, poetic sentences to juxtapose the darkness of the novel. all of the characters are so well-crafted and complex that you spend the book constantly sliding between the scale of love and hate for them (apart from one character in particular who you just absolutely despise, iykyk). betty as a character is one of the strongest and most resilient i’ve ever read about, and mcdaniel writes her coming of age so well, accurately capturing the change in mindset you experience as you grow older and gain maturity. there was so much emotional depth in this book and so many sweet familial moments, particularly through the character of landon, betty’s father, who really is a source of comfort throughout the whole novel - to betty herself, her siblings, and also the reader.
however, to put it simply, this book is brutal - rife with violence, tragedy, and abuse, and mcdaniel doesn’t shy away from any of this. this book (annoyingly) made me cry a few times, and if you know me, you know i never cry at books, so i think that gives you an idea of how tough it is. there are MANY trigger warnings for this, so i’d recommend finding this book on storygraph as it provides a list of trigger/content warnings. but despite all the heartache and darkness, ‘betty’ is still a beautiful and poignant coming of age story all about resilience and survival in the face of tragedy, and if you can handle it, i couldn’t recommend it more.
the writing in this book is absolutely beautiful, and i was in awe of how mcdaniel could craft such pretty, poetic sentences to juxtapose the darkness of the novel. all of the characters are so well-crafted and complex that you spend the book constantly sliding between the scale of love and hate for them (apart from one character in particular who you just absolutely despise, iykyk). betty as a character is one of the strongest and most resilient i’ve ever read about, and mcdaniel writes her coming of age so well, accurately capturing the change in mindset you experience as you grow older and gain maturity. there was so much emotional depth in this book and so many sweet familial moments, particularly through the character of landon, betty’s father, who really is a source of comfort throughout the whole novel - to betty herself, her siblings, and also the reader.
however, to put it simply, this book is brutal - rife with violence, tragedy, and abuse, and mcdaniel doesn’t shy away from any of this. this book (annoyingly) made me cry a few times, and if you know me, you know i never cry at books, so i think that gives you an idea of how tough it is. there are MANY trigger warnings for this, so i’d recommend finding this book on storygraph as it provides a list of trigger/content warnings. but despite all the heartache and darkness, ‘betty’ is still a beautiful and poignant coming of age story all about resilience and survival in the face of tragedy, and if you can handle it, i couldn’t recommend it more.
Read
September 2, 2020Trigger warning: this book talks about racism, have graphic scenes about bullying and violence, talks about child loss, abuse, suicide, and also has homophobic lines that are part of the story.
Back in 2016 I read McDaniel's debut novel The Summer That Melted Everything and it is now one of my all time favourite reads. I knew then that I want to read everything she publishes in the future.
This year we were lucky to see her second novel published, Betty, that was in reality the first novel she wrote several years ago.
Betty is based on the life of Tiffany McDaniel's mother, and even though it is fiction, many scenes and most of the story are based on the real life.
Therefore I decided I won't give this book a rating.
I have a rule that I don't rate non fiction, and because this novel is based on someone else's life, I don't feel comfortable to judge the story.
However, I will tell you my feelings and experience with it.
Betty was extremely emotional and heartbreaking story.
I saw people compare it to A Little Life, the book I still haven't read, but it is well known for the sadness, so it makes sense.
I think it is important to say that this is own voices in a way. It talks about the girl who is Cherokee (her father was Cherokee and mother was white).
I know it's not the author's job to teach us but we should all inform ourselves, but I still want to mention that I learned from this book more then I have before from movies (we don't learn American history in Croatian schools).
I still can't believe how racist people were and how awful they treated people just because they had different skin color and came with a different culture.
I still can't believe the cruelty Betty had to go through, and my heart was breaking for her.
There are also some parts in the book that were extremely difficult to read.
I had to stop at some parts and even skipped some because they were triggering for me (suicidal thoughts plus difficult relationship with mother).
This book is very important, but not everyone can handle it, in my opinion.
I read in an article that it took 10+ years for the book to get published, and I believe now it is good time for the Betty to come out, when more people want to read about different cultures and diversity, and when own voices are finally heard.
I also think that Betty should have been promoted more, because it deserves more attention, but I hope as people'll read it they will talk about it more and it will get the recognition.
The last thing I want to praise is McDaniel's voice. Her style is lyrical and beautiful, but also very forward.
I would recommend this book to lovers of literary fiction, but also to readers who'd like to read diverse books.
But guard yourself with some tissues because you'll need them!
Back in 2016 I read McDaniel's debut novel The Summer That Melted Everything and it is now one of my all time favourite reads. I knew then that I want to read everything she publishes in the future.
This year we were lucky to see her second novel published, Betty, that was in reality the first novel she wrote several years ago.
Betty is based on the life of Tiffany McDaniel's mother, and even though it is fiction, many scenes and most of the story are based on the real life.
Therefore I decided I won't give this book a rating.
I have a rule that I don't rate non fiction, and because this novel is based on someone else's life, I don't feel comfortable to judge the story.
However, I will tell you my feelings and experience with it.
Betty was extremely emotional and heartbreaking story.
I saw people compare it to A Little Life, the book I still haven't read, but it is well known for the sadness, so it makes sense.
I think it is important to say that this is own voices in a way. It talks about the girl who is Cherokee (her father was Cherokee and mother was white).
I know it's not the author's job to teach us but we should all inform ourselves, but I still want to mention that I learned from this book more then I have before from movies (we don't learn American history in Croatian schools).
I still can't believe how racist people were and how awful they treated people just because they had different skin color and came with a different culture.
I still can't believe the cruelty Betty had to go through, and my heart was breaking for her.
There are also some parts in the book that were extremely difficult to read.
I had to stop at some parts and even skipped some because they were triggering for me (suicidal thoughts plus difficult relationship with mother).
This book is very important, but not everyone can handle it, in my opinion.
I read in an article that it took 10+ years for the book to get published, and I believe now it is good time for the Betty to come out, when more people want to read about different cultures and diversity, and when own voices are finally heard.
I also think that Betty should have been promoted more, because it deserves more attention, but I hope as people'll read it they will talk about it more and it will get the recognition.
The last thing I want to praise is McDaniel's voice. Her style is lyrical and beautiful, but also very forward.
I would recommend this book to lovers of literary fiction, but also to readers who'd like to read diverse books.
But guard yourself with some tissues because you'll need them!
April 29, 2022
Yeah, I loved most of the characters. Yeah, I wanted to literally kill people - evil people. Yeah, this had ALL the triggers. (Rape, incest, racism, beating, mental health, ETC. I was pushed to my limit with so much and when the cat death and pulverized kittens came into play…(even though I’m not a big cat person) skim skim skim. Moving on!
Will always love and never forget: Landon, Betty, Flossie, Fraya, Lint and Trustin. The other brother and mother can suck it!!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Will always love and never forget: Landon, Betty, Flossie, Fraya, Lint and Trustin. The other brother and mother can suck it!!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
August 27, 2020
I’m left utterly breathless. What an immense story contained within a singular family. I don’t know if there’s a way to adequately prepare someone to go into this novel, but here I’ll do my best.
“You know what the heaviest thing in the world is, Betty?”
This book was the quiet before the storm, and then it was the storm itself. Tiffany McDaniel‘s writing is exquisite. There’s a way that authors-who-are-also-poets write that’s almost immediately identifiable. It felt like every other line contained something that I want to scribble down and store away for later. But as soon as I found myself falling into a rhythm, the song quickly shifted into a new movement, and I was thrown off the beat. As easily as she can sweep you away, McDaniel can yank you suddenly back into your body.
Betty follows the life of Betty Carpenter and her family as she grows up in the fictional town of Breathed, Ohio. Her father, Landon, is Cherokee and her mother, Alka is white. Every significant moment in their lives from the time the two of them meet until the final pages of the book is documented by their youngest daughter, Betty, as she learns about who she is and what her place is in the world. Most of these lessons are hard, made harder by the time and location she resides in. But they are also made easier by the fortifying nature of some of her family members and ancestors.
This is not a story of family drama but one of family trauma. It’s also the story of all the beautiful things that grow in the cracks between them. In the Carpenters, we watch as the scars of one generation are passed on to the next. It can be hard to reconcile when a person unloads that pain onto someone they’re supposed to love unconditionally. Can you forgive someone that’s tried to drag you down with them, if they thought it was the only way they could keep from drowning? Can any amount of understanding make it okay? It will never be okay.
Parts of this book were devastating. Other parts were enchanting. I don’t want to giveaway any plot, but I also don’t want someone to go in entirely blind. Give yourself the emotional space to fully immerse yourself in the story. There is grief and there is joy. There are storms and there is solace. There are beginnings and there are endings. We can’t choose what we inherit or from who, but we do have some say in what we do with it.
I wasn’t sure whether or not to include trigger warnings, as some may be considered spoilers, but I also didn’t want to make that choice for someone. Here I’ve hidden them in a spoiler tag, so the decision is up to you:
*Thanks to Tiffany McDaniel, Knopf Doubleday Publishing & Netgalley for advance review copies!
“You know what the heaviest thing in the world is, Betty?”
This book was the quiet before the storm, and then it was the storm itself. Tiffany McDaniel‘s writing is exquisite. There’s a way that authors-who-are-also-poets write that’s almost immediately identifiable. It felt like every other line contained something that I want to scribble down and store away for later. But as soon as I found myself falling into a rhythm, the song quickly shifted into a new movement, and I was thrown off the beat. As easily as she can sweep you away, McDaniel can yank you suddenly back into your body.
Betty follows the life of Betty Carpenter and her family as she grows up in the fictional town of Breathed, Ohio. Her father, Landon, is Cherokee and her mother, Alka is white. Every significant moment in their lives from the time the two of them meet until the final pages of the book is documented by their youngest daughter, Betty, as she learns about who she is and what her place is in the world. Most of these lessons are hard, made harder by the time and location she resides in. But they are also made easier by the fortifying nature of some of her family members and ancestors.
This is not a story of family drama but one of family trauma. It’s also the story of all the beautiful things that grow in the cracks between them. In the Carpenters, we watch as the scars of one generation are passed on to the next. It can be hard to reconcile when a person unloads that pain onto someone they’re supposed to love unconditionally. Can you forgive someone that’s tried to drag you down with them, if they thought it was the only way they could keep from drowning? Can any amount of understanding make it okay? It will never be okay.
Parts of this book were devastating. Other parts were enchanting. I don’t want to giveaway any plot, but I also don’t want someone to go in entirely blind. Give yourself the emotional space to fully immerse yourself in the story. There is grief and there is joy. There are storms and there is solace. There are beginnings and there are endings. We can’t choose what we inherit or from who, but we do have some say in what we do with it.
I wasn’t sure whether or not to include trigger warnings, as some may be considered spoilers, but I also didn’t want to make that choice for someone. Here I’ve hidden them in a spoiler tag, so the decision is up to you:
*Thanks to Tiffany McDaniel, Knopf Doubleday Publishing & Netgalley for advance review copies!
May 13, 2023
This is an awesome book in most ways, but.....
What the hell is it with this author and animals? She must either despise them or she has even more childhood trauma surrounding them than I do.
She can write, though, and she sure can tell a story. This is the second novel I've read of hers and the second to which I felt almost addicted to once I started reading.
Unfortunately, they both have some terrible shit done to animals which prevents me from giving them 5 stars.
There is terrible shit done to humans too, especially children, but for some reason I can cope with that. It's awful, sure. But it doesn't force me into a ball under the bed. I guess years of therapy have been successful to some degree.
However, I cannot deal with animal cruelty or death. And as much as I love Tiffany McDaniel's writing style and grand storytelling, I will not read another of her books until I hear from at least two trusted readers, maybe five, that there is not one sad or horrific thing that happens to an animal. Not a gecko bumping its nose or a centipede losing a leg. I don't care that that centipede would still have ninety-nine legs.
Nothing. If it gets hurt, I'm out.
August 17, 2020
Tiffany McDaniel’s incredible novel Betty broke me. It’s the coming-of-age story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954, Betty, the sixth of eight children, was raised for most of her life in the foothills of the Ohio Appalachians. Her father Landon Carpenter is a proud Cherokee married to her mother, Alka Lark, who is white. While her siblings look more like her mother, Betty is most like her father with dark skin.
The family is poor but Landon provides his children with inventive storytelling rooted in Cherokee myths and legends. From blazing stars to a bird living in a glass heart, the stories are magical. Betty develops a creative mind and becomes a storyteller in her own right. The support and love, especially from her father, does not prepare Betty for the hatred she faces once she enters school. Betty experiences racial hatred not only from the other children but from the faculty. While her mother tells Betty that she is not pretty like her sisters, it is the sweet and wonderful relationship with her father that keeps Betty strong and believing in herself.
Betty comes to learn the truth of generational abuse hidden within her own family shaking her entire foundation. It is way too much for a child to deal with this type of trauma and it’s very hard to read about it.
Betty is based on the author’s mother Betty and her family which makes the story even more heartbreaking. The writing is stunning and lyrical. I kept noting favorite passages when I realized almost every word in this book is worth savoring. It is rare for a book to stir up so much emotion. I highly recommend this book.
I am so glad that the author reached out to me to read Betty in advance of its publication. Thank you, thank you Tiffany McDaniel. And thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group / Random House and NetGalley.
Content Warning: the book includes some passages of sexual abuse that might be too disturbing for some readers.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
The family is poor but Landon provides his children with inventive storytelling rooted in Cherokee myths and legends. From blazing stars to a bird living in a glass heart, the stories are magical. Betty develops a creative mind and becomes a storyteller in her own right. The support and love, especially from her father, does not prepare Betty for the hatred she faces once she enters school. Betty experiences racial hatred not only from the other children but from the faculty. While her mother tells Betty that she is not pretty like her sisters, it is the sweet and wonderful relationship with her father that keeps Betty strong and believing in herself.
Betty comes to learn the truth of generational abuse hidden within her own family shaking her entire foundation. It is way too much for a child to deal with this type of trauma and it’s very hard to read about it.
Betty is based on the author’s mother Betty and her family which makes the story even more heartbreaking. The writing is stunning and lyrical. I kept noting favorite passages when I realized almost every word in this book is worth savoring. It is rare for a book to stir up so much emotion. I highly recommend this book.
I am so glad that the author reached out to me to read Betty in advance of its publication. Thank you, thank you Tiffany McDaniel. And thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group / Random House and NetGalley.
Content Warning: the book includes some passages of sexual abuse that might be too disturbing for some readers.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
Read
April 14, 2022I. Am. Broken. This is up there with A Little Life for me.
May 6, 2023
Betty is the sort of fiction I inhale.
A raw family portrait told in slices of life over a generational narrative. With titular Betty Carpenter as our narrator, we read of mid-century America through her eyes. Starting at 7 years old, we see a world of innocence, possibility, and wonder around her. But with each chapter, a new episode in her life, she gains further understanding of the world’s cruelties — big and small, direct and slight — and of her family’s repeating history of secrets. As she grows, a young girl of Cherokee descent in the '50s-'60s-'70s, she takes and takes all she can until she asserts what freedom and agency mean to her as a young woman.
It’s brutal, but it’s truthful.
It’s incredible.
When it comes to historical fiction, I’m realizing Tiffany McDaniel is my perfect storyteller. Her work challenges nostalgia, an idealized America that only ever existed for the privileged few. What so many think of as icons of mid-century culture (Elvis, Go-Go boots, etc.) are secondary. Instead, she focuses on the realities of racism and sexism, and especially the small, insidious ways these norms were enforced — ways that still affect American culture to this day. Herself a part of Cherokee Nation, McDaniel shares a family experience of trying to keep Native tradition alive in a country built on decimating it, and in a community so thoroughly whitewashed.
Her focus is just as keen when it comes to private issues. The Carpenter family is one of many cruel secrets. These secrets pervade from one generation to the next, either quietly suffered or acted out onto the next victim. The story's time period enables keeping these secrets kept for fear of shame or blame, placing undue burden on the female sufferers. It's gutting to read about because we know such horrible things can and do happen all the time.
And because we know we’re still in a society of secrecy, still holding back so many from speaking out.
Not only does Betty have you look at the past, you naturally begin to reflect on the present. Upon finishing, you then can take what this book imparts onto you to the future.
A raw family portrait told in slices of life over a generational narrative. With titular Betty Carpenter as our narrator, we read of mid-century America through her eyes. Starting at 7 years old, we see a world of innocence, possibility, and wonder around her. But with each chapter, a new episode in her life, she gains further understanding of the world’s cruelties — big and small, direct and slight — and of her family’s repeating history of secrets. As she grows, a young girl of Cherokee descent in the '50s-'60s-'70s, she takes and takes all she can until she asserts what freedom and agency mean to her as a young woman.
It’s brutal, but it’s truthful.
It’s incredible.
When it comes to historical fiction, I’m realizing Tiffany McDaniel is my perfect storyteller. Her work challenges nostalgia, an idealized America that only ever existed for the privileged few. What so many think of as icons of mid-century culture (Elvis, Go-Go boots, etc.) are secondary. Instead, she focuses on the realities of racism and sexism, and especially the small, insidious ways these norms were enforced — ways that still affect American culture to this day. Herself a part of Cherokee Nation, McDaniel shares a family experience of trying to keep Native tradition alive in a country built on decimating it, and in a community so thoroughly whitewashed.
Her focus is just as keen when it comes to private issues. The Carpenter family is one of many cruel secrets. These secrets pervade from one generation to the next, either quietly suffered or acted out onto the next victim. The story's time period enables keeping these secrets kept for fear of shame or blame, placing undue burden on the female sufferers. It's gutting to read about because we know such horrible things can and do happen all the time.
And because we know we’re still in a society of secrecy, still holding back so many from speaking out.
Not only does Betty have you look at the past, you naturally begin to reflect on the present. Upon finishing, you then can take what this book imparts onto you to the future.
Read
July 15, 2022ffs
August 25, 2023
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel is an international bestseller. It’s a semi-literary fiction inspired by McDaniel’s mother, grandmother and aunts. McDaniel tells the story of her mother, Betty.
Betty‘s mother is a white-American and her father a Cherokee. The story is told in three parts starting in 1909 and leading the reader through Betty‘s‘ coming-of age until the 1960‘s. McDaniel elaborates the hardship and discrimination Betty faces in her macro-environment whilst she is exposed to rage and disgrace by her mother and some of her siblings in her micro-environment. Against all the negativity, she draws power and self-confidence from her loving father. Eventually, Betty rises above the unfortunate chain of disturbing events to discover her own path upon earning her Highschool diploma.
Find me on instagram
❗️Trigger warning: Animal abuse, rape, drugs, child abuse. Repeat all the trigger warnings and multiply by 100 with the author‘s raw language of describing the disturbing events in lengthy ways.
I read this novel for my April Bookclub Meeting. Though I know that I won’t look at dandelions quite the same again without remembering Betty, I am still left with mixed emotions about this novel. I wouldn’t have picked this book, but I’m really glad to have read it. Yet, I wouldn’t proactively recommend this book to anyone. Do you know what I mean?
Betty‘s mother is a white-American and her father a Cherokee. The story is told in three parts starting in 1909 and leading the reader through Betty‘s‘ coming-of age until the 1960‘s. McDaniel elaborates the hardship and discrimination Betty faces in her macro-environment whilst she is exposed to rage and disgrace by her mother and some of her siblings in her micro-environment. Against all the negativity, she draws power and self-confidence from her loving father. Eventually, Betty rises above the unfortunate chain of disturbing events to discover her own path upon earning her Highschool diploma.
Find me on instagram
❗️Trigger warning: Animal abuse, rape, drugs, child abuse. Repeat all the trigger warnings and multiply by 100 with the author‘s raw language of describing the disturbing events in lengthy ways.
I read this novel for my April Bookclub Meeting. Though I know that I won’t look at dandelions quite the same again without remembering Betty, I am still left with mixed emotions about this novel. I wouldn’t have picked this book, but I’m really glad to have read it. Yet, I wouldn’t proactively recommend this book to anyone. Do you know what I mean?
September 10, 2020
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
"Don't you wish you had a sack full of good days, Betty? Whenever you were havin' a bad day you could reach into the sack and make everything better."
Between the ‘Rona being errrrywhere and homeschooling (both high school and college versions) and entirely new systems at work despite no one being at actual work, I haven’t been on here in a hot minute. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I’m still reading like a maniac and had to say a lil’ summin about Betty. Pause for a brief synopsis . . . . .
Srsly. Oh poor Betty. My notes are full of “holy shits” and “make me stop feeling things, you fucker” (that last one was specifically for Tiffany McDaniel). In case you aren’t familiar with this novel, it’s a fictional biography inspired by the life of the author’s mother that spans from 1901 to 1973. It’s about family and race and class and prejudice and evils of men (and women) and life in Appalachia and a little folklore and a spot of ‘shine. And it is a nearly 500 page kick in the face. But somewhere in all that misery is a little hope and humor as well. Hope in the form of the best daddy I've ever met and humor in Betty herself . . . .
"I've never seen a colored before."
"And I've never seen a butt for a face before but if you don't turn around right now, I'm gonna take my daddy's pocketknife and cut you up into tiny pieces to mail to your momma in a heart-shaped box."
I’ve had The Summer That Everything Melted on my Kindle as an advanced copy since well before its release date, but continue to avoid it like the black plague due to fear of disappointing either My Bestie or My Nemesis when I read it wrong. I’m not going to make any promises that I’ll bump it up the TBR anytime soon, but after reading Betty I think I would likely lean more toward Shelby’s side of the fence.
This book is not going to be for everyone. In case you aren’t familiar with me, I don’t shy away from dark subject matter and when I say this one is brutal, I’m not kidding. Absolutely no punches were pulled so if you are of the sensitive nature or require your reviews come with a trigger warning, consider this your notice that EVERY trigger will be triggered.
4.5 Stars rather than 5 because it was just a weeeeee bit long in the tooth and not every page was necessary.
"Don't you wish you had a sack full of good days, Betty? Whenever you were havin' a bad day you could reach into the sack and make everything better."
Between the ‘Rona being errrrywhere and homeschooling (both high school and college versions) and entirely new systems at work despite no one being at actual work, I haven’t been on here in a hot minute. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I’m still reading like a maniac and had to say a lil’ summin about Betty. Pause for a brief synopsis . . . . .
Srsly. Oh poor Betty. My notes are full of “holy shits” and “make me stop feeling things, you fucker” (that last one was specifically for Tiffany McDaniel). In case you aren’t familiar with this novel, it’s a fictional biography inspired by the life of the author’s mother that spans from 1901 to 1973. It’s about family and race and class and prejudice and evils of men (and women) and life in Appalachia and a little folklore and a spot of ‘shine. And it is a nearly 500 page kick in the face. But somewhere in all that misery is a little hope and humor as well. Hope in the form of the best daddy I've ever met and humor in Betty herself . . . .
"I've never seen a colored before."
"And I've never seen a butt for a face before but if you don't turn around right now, I'm gonna take my daddy's pocketknife and cut you up into tiny pieces to mail to your momma in a heart-shaped box."
I’ve had The Summer That Everything Melted on my Kindle as an advanced copy since well before its release date, but continue to avoid it like the black plague due to fear of disappointing either My Bestie or My Nemesis when I read it wrong. I’m not going to make any promises that I’ll bump it up the TBR anytime soon, but after reading Betty I think I would likely lean more toward Shelby’s side of the fence.
This book is not going to be for everyone. In case you aren’t familiar with me, I don’t shy away from dark subject matter and when I say this one is brutal, I’m not kidding. Absolutely no punches were pulled so if you are of the sensitive nature or require your reviews come with a trigger warning, consider this your notice that EVERY trigger will be triggered.
4.5 Stars rather than 5 because it was just a weeeeee bit long in the tooth and not every page was necessary.
August 2, 2020
“Boys are like that. Always tryin’ to pretend they’re savin’ girls from somethin’. They never seem to realize, we can save ourselves.”
First of all, HUGE thank you to @orionbooks for this review copy! Chalk it up now: Tiffany McDaniel is a REAL bonafide talent. The Summer That Melted Everything was not a one-off masterpiece - McDaniel is here to stay.
Betty is a coming-of-age tale based upon McDaniel’s mother’s upbringing in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Heavily infused with the stunning storytelling and culture of the Cherokee people, Betty is the story of the Carpenter family.
In a nutshell, if you loved TSTME, there’s a great chance you’ll fall head over heels for this story too. Once again Tiffany manages to explore a multitude of heavy themes including rape, incest, sexual abuse, racism, poverty and so forth, through her beautifully poetic prose. But as you can see, there are many trigger warnings for this one!
One of my favourite things about McDaniel’s work so far is the depiction of the magical father-son/daughter relationships she writes into her stories. Personally this is a sensitive spot for me, having lost my father at a relatively young age, so I take extra pleasure in reading about and imagining what such a relationship could look like. This book is sad. It’s heartbreaking and tragic, it will break your heart in two, but Betty’s relationship with her father is one of the lights that shines through all the darkness. As is her relationship with her sisters (most of the time!).
Admittedly it took me a while to get into Betty at the beginning. I struggled a little when it came to grasping the Cherokee culture and history as I’m simply not familiar with it, but once I did, those stories were very moving.
McDaniel is quickly becoming an all-time favourite author - I’d recommend this one wholeheartedly! (But be mindful of the trigger warnings, of course) 4 stars.
First of all, HUGE thank you to @orionbooks for this review copy! Chalk it up now: Tiffany McDaniel is a REAL bonafide talent. The Summer That Melted Everything was not a one-off masterpiece - McDaniel is here to stay.
Betty is a coming-of-age tale based upon McDaniel’s mother’s upbringing in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Heavily infused with the stunning storytelling and culture of the Cherokee people, Betty is the story of the Carpenter family.
In a nutshell, if you loved TSTME, there’s a great chance you’ll fall head over heels for this story too. Once again Tiffany manages to explore a multitude of heavy themes including rape, incest, sexual abuse, racism, poverty and so forth, through her beautifully poetic prose. But as you can see, there are many trigger warnings for this one!
One of my favourite things about McDaniel’s work so far is the depiction of the magical father-son/daughter relationships she writes into her stories. Personally this is a sensitive spot for me, having lost my father at a relatively young age, so I take extra pleasure in reading about and imagining what such a relationship could look like. This book is sad. It’s heartbreaking and tragic, it will break your heart in two, but Betty’s relationship with her father is one of the lights that shines through all the darkness. As is her relationship with her sisters (most of the time!).
Admittedly it took me a while to get into Betty at the beginning. I struggled a little when it came to grasping the Cherokee culture and history as I’m simply not familiar with it, but once I did, those stories were very moving.
McDaniel is quickly becoming an all-time favourite author - I’d recommend this one wholeheartedly! (But be mindful of the trigger warnings, of course) 4 stars.
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