what a fantastic book! I absolutely devoured this story. some moments were so very intense it felt like my heart was in my throat. there were many tears. Betty's closeness with her father was beautiful, and at times, heartbreaking. She turns to writing as a way of venting her emotions and speaking about horrors she has witnessed. I highly recommend Betty, what a brilliant brilliant story.

💋 BOOK REVIEW 💋

Synopsis: 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. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty 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.
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.

Review:
⚠️ Trigger Warnings ⚠️
- Rape
- Incest
- Racism
- Homophobia
- Domestic Violence
- Self Harm and Suicide
- Animal Cruelty

These topics are mentioned frequently and often in graphic detail. However, this book was phenomenal. Tiffany McDaniel is now on my list of favourite authors of all time. An incredible #ownvoices story that touches hard topics and leaves you completely captivated. I’d describe it as a distant cousin to A Little Life, however goodreads is cranky that people are comparing the two. This book hit the same heart strings that A Little Life did, and it is one of my favourite books of all time. Tiffany McDaniel deserves all of the awards for this and I will promote it until I’m blue in the face. One of the few books that I read via kindle that I will be purchasing a physical copy of because of the important topics and the incredible story. I cannot wait to have this on my shelves! Something I didn’t like was the bible verse at the beginning of each chapter. It doesn’t bring anything to the book and doesn’t work for those of us who aren’t religious.

Thank you to @hachetteaus and @netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my review.
4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book will sit with me for a long time, on my shoulder and on my heart, and weigh me down. It bears a striking beauty at the same time as horrific violence, and there is so much in it that builds an incredible world. There is so much in here that gave me pause- moments and twists that broke tiny shards of me into pieces, and I adored it. The level of pain and agony that Betty and her family go through, only to never quite find peace, absolutely stings the soul. The weaving of this as an Indigenous American narrative and piece of literature is marvellous, and I so much appreciate seeing a '#ownvoices' narrative that is weaved in such a wonderful way.

I loved every good character in this book, and I loathed every miscreant. This book made me feel so many things, a wild rollercoaster of emotions. I cried, laughed, got grumpy, everything- it is so hard for me to find a book that runs this kind of gamut, and so it was an absolute gem. It bears potential as a 'slice of life' style book, but it pervades so many levels of social, emotional, and cultural facets that there's so much to love in here. After purchasing my copy, I promptly donated it to my library- it is a book crying out to be read, and I can only hope that people will find it and love it as much as I did.