I've noticed a pattern.
My favourite books of all time are the ones that make me cry.
This one though, made me cry tons.
The writing is absolutely beautiful. In fact, I don't think I'll ever read anything of this quality again. That's how good it is. It's such a rarity.
After reading only 10% of the ARC from Netgalley I went out and bought the limited edition from Waterstones. At around the 70% I bought the audiobook.
And I've started it now.
It'll probably be just as hard an experience this time around, but it's something I need to do. And I don't know why.
I'm kind of lost for words. Nothing I say would do it justice anyway.
Everyone should experience this book.
Everyone.

5 stars.

This is a very powerful and shocking book. It explores the life of Betty as she grows up. There are themes of incest, rape, racism and cruelty. Bad things happen to all but one of Betty's siblings. Her mother is damaged and deranged. But the overwhelming feeling is of love, and although her father was fairly powerless to change anything, he tried to pass on to his children some Cherokee traditions, folklore and skills. Betty becomes a survivor and there is hope for Lint, too, at the end. There is a link between chapters which describes a number of mysterious shootings in the area, which is eventually explained at the end. There is fanciful imagery and language which is slightly overdone and the plot moves very slowly. The author's introduction tells us that this is based on the life of her own mother, who was born in 1954. Apart from the cultural references, it feels like it could be from a century earlier.

A wonderful book, so deeply tragic and extremely harrowing, yet somehow heartwarming too. A story full of rich characters, best of all young Betty, bruised by life, tender hearted yet fierce and resilient, I just loved her. The Appalachian setting and the Cherokee stories and traditions told by Betty's father came alive for me, I almost felt I was there. A warning though, this is a story that for some may hold many triggers, in fact probably all of them, it made me angry and it made me cry but I loved it. Five fat shiny stars and many thanks to the author, the publishers and Netgalley for the Arc.

Brilliant. I didn’t want this book to end. I just wanted to keep finding out more about Betty and her family. This story is about, family, prejudice, abuse, our beliefs and love. There is so much packed into this story. It is a story that I will remember and recommend for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I loved Tiffany McDaniel’s The Summer that Melter Everything so I loved the idea of this family story.

Right from the beginning, McDaniel explains that this is the story of her mother’s life. Honestly if I didn’t know that I’d think some plot points were too far fetched. Instead, it made this story so much more sad and real.

I admit this book took me a while to get into, but once I was into it I couldn’t put it down. I loved all the characters, especially the sisters who all felt so well-realised, which makes sense if they are based on real people.

I found this book deeply moving and well-realised but desperately sad. I actually thought I was going to have a little cry at the end.

I loved this so so much. I actually miss all of the characters (especially Flossie) - I cant wait to read watch Tiffany McDaniel writes next.

There are some books which you soon realise are going to alter the way you look at life, and this is one of those and more.
This story is based on McDaniel’s mother, Betty, the daughter of a Cherokee man. Whilst this isn’t a memoir or biography, it is the fictionalised account of her family and growing up as the only girl who looked like her dad rather than her white mother. It is a touching exploration of race, family, loss and gaining confidence in yourself against all odds.
In all honesty, I think this story broke me a bit - I cried almost instantly at the beauty of the words and carried on crying throughout when Betty was faced with tragedy after tragedy. I cried because Betty’s relationship with her father is one of the most beautifully written relationships I have ever read, and the strength of the love between them is what kept them alive through their sorrow. The stories and myths he passed down to Betty were by far my favourite parts of the story - gentle words of wisdom, support, kindness and love, the legacy of the Cherokee people. I loved the way he encouraged her to take ownership of who she is and be proud, rather than cower at the hatred and abuse she receives throughout school. I just loved everything about this story (other than the occasional animal death which I’m never good with!).
I quite honestly just don’t know how to write this review in a way that could do this story and all its intricacies justice - so let me just say this. This is the best book I have ever read and if I could I would give it 10 stars. I will be buying a copy to keep and share with everyone I love. This is a masterpiece.

A gut wrenching story told by one strong lady, named Betty.
A story of struggle, love, hardship and pain.
We follow Betty throughout her life, we fall in love with the world around her, as the beauty it holds also teaches her.
I truly loved this book, at times the story was hard to read, but you had to keep going just as Betty did.
I will not forget this book, the story will stay with me for a very long time.

I had no idea what kind of book I would be reading when I picked up BETTY and when it opened with a biblical quotation I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like it. I was completely wrong. Betty is utterly fabulous. Tiffany McDaniel has produced an intense narrative that has a truly physical effect on the reader. Reading BETTY is a visceral and affecting experience and I’d defy any reader to remain unchanged by it.

Based on the author’s mother, BETTY is the story of one particular female whilst simultaneously being the possible story of every female through time, or even the story of the Earth herself. This book is a song to womanhood but also to what it means to be a father and husband. Betty’s voice is so clear that it is as if the reader is inside her head as she describes her life as a young child. Her relationships with her siblings, her mother and, especially her father, are conveyed exquisitely. At times I wasn’t sure I could bear to read what might happen next in Betty’s story because I found it so realistic and so touching. I wept several times during my reading.

Written in a memoir style, events are balanced so perfectly that all aspects from love to brutality are conveyed in a way that touches the soul of the reader. Tiffany McDaniel writes about incest, rape and violence as well as nature and belonging, with poetry, with humanity and with an understanding of human nature that is astounding. Her characterisation is so fabulous that it is impossible not to be caught up in the lives of Betty and her family. I loved Betty’s father unconditionally despite some of his actions and my heart broke for the way Betty learnt life’s lessons. Every single family member is clear and distinct so that I know they will all remain with me for a very long time.

The themes in BETTY are sadly terrifyingly familiar in a modern world but presented through innovative writing making them all the more convincing. From various forms of abuse, including prejudicial and sexual, to identity and mental health, all life thrums through the pages of BETTY. I cannot imagine anyone with a shred of humanity in their soul not being totally spellbound by this story.

BETTY is written with beauty and skill, but above all else it is written with love and I absolutely adored it. It’s heart-achingly wonderful. I fear BETTY will be a quiet book with the length and content matter putting off readers, but anyone who doesn’t have the opportunity to discover Tiffany McDaniel’s magical, heart rending and affecting creation is really missing out. I adored it and thought it quite wonderful.

This is a story that will stay with me for a long time. It tells the coming of age tale of Betty Carpenter, born in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother. Betty is one of eight children, with an especially strong relationship with her father and her sisters. She loves to hear the magical Cherokee tales her father tells her, where he teaches her so much about life from an early age. The bond she has with her father is woven beautifully throughout the book. With themes of racism, abuse, poverty and loss this is a heart-breaking, roller coaster of a read with moments when all you can do is stop for a moment to process what’s happened. This is the tale of a life so poor yet lived so richly, a pleasure to read. I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's not for the faint of heart and unfortunately I'm one of them.
The style of writing and the character development are excellent but some parts were so dark (violence, child and animal abuse, racism) that I had to stop reading.
I think it's a great book for the right person, it is not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I had high hopes for Tiffany McDaniels 'Betty' and it did not disappoint. The eponymous hero of the novel, Betty, is one of eight children, born to a white mother and Cherokee father. It's a tough read in parts, particularly the horrific racism Betty encounters at school, but what shines through is the love and strength she inherits from her father, who teaches her about life and how to survive. This is a powerful, beautifully written novel which I highly recommend.

This is one of those immersive books where you truly feel you are living Bettys life, so much that you almost forget who she is, as all the action carries on with you in the midst of it all. It’s a tale of life in poverty by the Appalachian mountains, of racial prejudice, the importance of Cherokee culture, and family. The family suffers from poverty and prejudice, and there are deeply uncomfortable truths in the book which make it uncomfortable reading in points.
I really enjoyed the phrasing, language and the way the story unfolded.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review .

I am in awe. Betty is a marvel. A masterclass in writing. It feels like every phrase, damn, every sentence, is astonishing. It's a novel that other authors will envy. If I had only a smidgen of Tiffany's talent I would be happy. Betty is a harrowing, beautiful experience. Full of hope and despair. Sadness and longing. A terrifying novel that made me feel every emotion possible. At times it made me so angry I was literally gritting my teeth, but amidst that rage there are also signs of light scattered throughout, mainly in the form of Betty's father, landons many stories and metaphors. He is a beacon of strength throughout and one of the greatest characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about. He's the figure the story always goes back to for a break from the many horrific ordeals the Carpenter family goes through, which there are many. My book of the year so far. The highest possible recommendation.

I struggled with this book. Parts of it were very hard to read. Racism is very topical at the moment and nothing in society seems to change! Incest and animal abuse always is hard to hear and read about. In the end this book got too much.

This was truly not an easy read. It has been pitched as this years “A little life” but fir me it reminded me more of “My absolute darling” which I know totally divided opinion.
The story of Betty, the 4th child of a White mother and Cherokee father. Their lives are not easy and they live mostly in poverty surrounded by horrendous racial abuse where ever they live, but we discover too some of the horrific abuse happening within the family which makes for really traumatising reading at times. This is not for the faint hearted and readers really need to know what they are signing up for as the cute cover and title give nothing away of the contents.

There were times I almost had to put this down and leave it, it was that emotionally exhausting and tough to read. Something kept drawing me back, and it wasn't just the hope that there would be some sort of happy ending or that everything would magically resolve itself. Beautifully written, and a gripping story, it had me in tears at times, recoiling in horror at the human condition at other times. It explored the depths of human sadness and the inner lives of a family where hardship is the normal way of life. Yet there was something beautiful in the narrators voice, a softness in the approach that drew me back into it and spurred me on.

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.

An all-consuming experience, this book takes you on a very dark and dangerous journey through early twentieth century America, with some extremely disturbing episodes.

Betty is one of the eight children of a white mother and Cherokee father, and is the daughter that takes on the role of recording the lives of all the others as she survives poverty and racism and starts to recognise her own power and strength.

Some of the writing is so raw and powerful, it is very moving to read and I found myself really caring about the fates of the different characters and aching for Betty at the amount of pain she must bear.

This is a book that covers an enormous amount of ground, the love in the relationship between Betty and her father is at the heart of the book as Betty grows up and finds her voice. It doesn't shy away from the difficult and taboo subjects while offering hope of redemption.

Wow I’m speechless after reading the last few pages...
This is an interesting and important novel about family ties, race, abuse and so much more. I loved the authors writing style which is magical.
Even though the beginning was a bit slow and the story is heartbreaking I could not put this down. I really enjoyed this novel and will definitely about it for a while.,

Having loved Tiffany McDaniel's debut novel I was pretty excited to get this arc for Betty. Sadly, the first pages were slow going. Still, I persevered hoping that soon enough I would get into the flow of the story...but I never did. McDaniel's prose is all flash and no substance. She tries to recreate 60s-Ohio way of speaking (most of the word are cut off, eg goin' , somethin',) but to me this gave little credibility to the setting. She walks the line between realism (depicting the rampant racism and sexism) and being gratuitous. Many scenes seemed merely to exist to emphasis that Betty is subject to all sorts of abuses, and they were not always convincing. There was something almost intentionally callous about it. Also, while I know that to begin with Betty is a child, she still could have traces of a personality. The incest plot is predictable, and again, somewhat gratuitous. Animal torture also strikes me as included for the 'shock' value.
The prose is mannered, the story offers little other than a series of episodes that seemed less 'real' then sadistic.
A hard no from me.