Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jun 21, 2020 Martha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mental-health, fiction, bipoc-authors-black, would-read-again, 2020-yorwoc, read-2020, read-women-20, reading-women-challenge-20, physical-disability, read-2021

I flipping loved this! I loved Chloe's sarcasm, Red's gentleness, the HOTNESS, it was a cracker. This was also a shining example of diversity in storytelling as well as audience awareness because it had:

A Black, curvy heroine with a disability presented in a way that was neither tokenistic nor fetishized.
Chloe's curves are part of who she is, and the idea of her being "too big" / "fat" etc. or having any self-esteem issues due to her size is not referenced at all. Her race also does not feature I flipping loved this! I loved Chloe's sarcasm, Red's gentleness, the HOTNESS, it was a cracker. This was also a shining example of diversity in storytelling as well as audience awareness because it had:

A Black, curvy heroine with a disability presented in a way that was neither tokenistic nor fetishized.
Chloe's curves are part of who she is, and the idea of her being "too big" / "fat" etc. or having any self-esteem issues due to her size is not referenced at all. Her race also does not feature as a major stumbling block in her life, there are some microaggressions in the background, but this is not a book about race because, *shock horror*, stories by and about Black people can be about more than their race! Her chronic illness was a much bigger part of the story and I was overjoyed to read a story where the presentation of disability was presented in an honest way. It wasn't sugar-coated, the challenges were talked about openly but it also wasn't the only thing about Chloe, it was just one part of her identity and life, AND she was a disabled woman who has [HOT] sex! You'd think that wasn't revolutionary but unfortunately the desexualisation of disabled people is real. All of the above highlights again the significant value of #OwnVoices storytelling - the author is a Black woman who suffers from chronic pain and she no doubt drew on her own experiences to inform Chloe's character.

A male character who had experienced psychological abuse by a woman
Abuse in relationships disproportionately impacts woman and adequate representation of that in books still leaves a lot to be desired. That said, it does not exclusively impact women, and the rigid gender norms around masculinity make it very difficult for male survivors of abuse to speak up, in case they are seen as 'less of a man' or not believed at all. I thought this was dealt with so well, with sensitivity and awareness of the lasting psychological impact. An unexpected bonus (and it's upsetting that I have to describe it as such) was a CONTENT WARNING! I literally have never seen a content warning at the start of a book, so the fact that Talia Hibbert provided one here means I will actually love her forever.

While I have spent the majority of this review talking about the diversity presented in this novel, I want to reiterate that this novel isn't brilliant just because of its diversity. I feel like this is important to emphasise in a time when Black-authored books are flying off the shelves because white people have suddenly woken up to the reality of structural racism - don't buy this as a tokenistic gesture to tick off a book with a Black disabled protagonist. Yes it's important to diversify your reading so by all means check this out as one of many great examples of books by Black authors, but far far more importantly, buy this because IT'S BLOODY EXCELLENT. It's funny, warm, and ridiculously STEAMY, and I stayed up until 3am to finish it because I had to know how it would end. ...more

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Feb 05, 2022 Olivermagnus rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, 2022, zfeb-2022

Chloe Brown is 31 when she's almost hit by a speeding Range Rover. This brush with death prompts Chloe to reassess her isolated life. She has fibromyalgia, and the associated pain, fatigue, insomnia and mood issues that have her living a life devoted to managing her pain. She's lost friends, but at least she still has her sisters and parents.

Chloe makes a list with ten items on it and the first one is to move into her own apartment. She meets the superintendant, Redford "Red" Morgan. She finds h ...more

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Feb 19, 2021 Carissa Brown rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, adult, audiobook

Chloe Brown has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. While she has been coping with her diagnosis for awhile she realizes that she has lost her whole life to the disease. Chloe has decided that it is time to get a life again, she will not let this disease win. She has a list of things that she wants to accomplish to help her get a life again. Enter Red Morgan.

Red has his own issues he is running from. He has been hiding out in his friends apartment complex and working as the superintendent. He thi ...more

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