Charlene Carr's "We Rip the World Apart" is a gripping and thought-provoking novel that delves into the depths of human emotion and the consequences of personal decisions. Carr's evocative prose and intricate character development create a powerful narrative that explores themes of loss, redemption, and the complexities of relationships. The story is both intense and moving, drawing readers into a world where every choice has significant repercussions. With its rich, immersive storytelling and profound insights, "We Rip the World Apart" offers a compelling and unforgettable reading experience. It's a must-read for those who appreciate deeply emotional and character-driven fiction.

I absolutely loved this! A multi-generational story of race and gender equality which will have you thinking and reflecting on life. The story is wonderfully written and I enjoyed reading this - it was easy to warm to the characters and want them to do well.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

This book gave so much. It really enjoyed that it was multi-generational, and I liked that it showed how trying to withhold the pain of your generation from your children can cause rifts and more problems. It was a really real look at race and gender equality. The more we got to know the characters and what they’ve been through the more we understood and related to them.

This book is a heartbreaking read about woman and motherhood.
The book is emotive and the author writes beautifully, whilst exploring issues of racism which are hard to read in parts.

I am unable to provide feedback on this novel as the file download for Kindle was corrupted. I enjoyed the author's previous novel and was looking forward to reading this one!

My heart hurts, this book has ripped me to pieces. It’s been everything I’ve needed after a real unpleasant week.

Charlene Carr, take a bow! This is a literary masterpiece with so many wonderful characters and moments. However, this also shows a visceral and raw portrayal of experiences which are all too familiar for many individuals.

I adored everything about out this book, I was instantly pulled into the pages and completely unwilling to put this down. As a result, I devoured this book in just one sitting.

Kareela, Violet and Evelyn are magnificent and really well developed. This is one of those books where you feel as though you know them. I loved getting to know the individual experiences and what the characters encountered.

This shines a light on how racist, prejudiced attitudes still occur within our society. It’s not enough to bite back with comments. There needs to be uncomfortable conversations to make changes. One phrase which is thrown around “I understand what you’re going through” or “I can imagine how you feel”. However, can any of us actually relate? Do we have any idea what these experiences are like? Do we understand the impact?

Carr writes in a way, the words just flow. A bit like the tears I’ve cried reading this. This is a book that really does immerse the reader fully. You become so invested, everything seems real.

This is a book that deserves to be a bestseller and receive all the praise. I loved this from beginning to end. There is nothing negative to be said about this one.

Told through the eyes of three women from the same family we follow multiple time lines. Each woman is strong in their own way but have all experienced the same adversities because of race. We rip the world apart is a thought provoking read which highlights the ripple effect across the years from a tragedy that should never have happened. It also shows that over the decades when it comes to racial discrimination very little has changed. Evelyn, Violet and Kareela make compelling characters who you can't help feel for.

Sometimes books feel like they are hard to do justice to in a review, and We Rip The World Apart is one of those. Even finding the right adjectives to describe it without seeming banal is difficult but here goes - thought-provoking, heartbreaking, moving and above all beautifully written in the way it tackles some important but difficult issues with sensitivity.

Set in Canada, this is the story of three generations, told from the perspective of three women of the family. Present day there is Kareela, a young biracial woman; her mother Evelyn is white who met her husband while living in Jamaica in the 1990s, and we also hear from Evelyn’s mother in law Violet as we learn about their lives. Each has their own complex story to tell as they endure some truly heartbreaking events - and we are reminded how with many issues much has changed but much has stayed the same over the years.

This is a story that covers so much but at its heart it is a story about race, identity and family. There is much about it that is hard to read, particularly for those of us for whom so much of it is hard to begin to imagine, but that is exactly what makes it so powerful and such a compelling read.

I will hold my hands up and say that I have been extremely busy last week and weekend, so this review is pretty late in being posted. Hopefully, the lovely people at Headline will forgive me!

When Violet moved to Canada to be with her son and daughter-in-law Evelyn in the wake of their son Antony’s murder, she provides a link to the Jamaican heritage that their daughter Kareela has never really connected with. Despite Evelyn’s desperate attempts to bring justice to Antony’s killers, her pleas have always fallen on deaf ears. Now, Kareela is 24 and pregnant with a baby that she isn’t sure she wants. How can she possibly raise a child when she doesn’t even know how to live as a mixed-race person herself? Will Kareela’s, Evelyn’s and Violet’s secrets bring them together or rip the world apart?

Kareela is involved in the BLM movement, which terrifies Evelyn because of the nature and context of Antony’s death. The movement is featured heavily in the book and I really believed that it was an accurate representation. The members rang true as people and they were portrayed as likeable yet defiant, passionate yet gentle. Kareela’s friends felt like good friends and I think it would have been easy to slip on this, given the way that political protestors are often portrayed.

Even when Antony is very young, Evelyn realises that relocating the family from a war-torn Jamaica to an apparently civilised country like Canada doesn’t guarantee the safety of her Black son. I felt so much sympathy for Evelyn throughout the book and it really felt like she couldn’t ever catch a break. Despite the fact she is white, racial prejudice and police brutality directly affect her through the treatment of her children, which is the case for so many mixed-race families.

Evelyn also comments on how her whiteness affects how other women see her. She claims that other white women are suspicious of her having a Black husband while Black women resent her having a handsome, educated, successful Black husband. I have no idea whether this is a true dynamic or not but it certainly feels like a generalisation. However, it means that Evelyn reflects on her race and how it affects her movement through the world in relation to how other races experience life, which lends her a degree of empathy and self-awareness.

The relationship between Violet and Evelyn is a strange one. They consider each other to be a kind of mother and daughter but I never really sensed a closeness between them, as you would certainly expect in chosen parent-child relationships. I didn’t really understand Violet’s advice for Evelyn and it was clear that Evelyn didn’t really want to care for Violet in her twilight years. It was obvious that they both loved Kareela but Evelyn’s grief and blind ambition to get justice for Antony meant that she wasn’t a good mum to Kareela. In turn, Kareela didn’t really know Violet all that well. I like to think that they became closer after the events of the book, as it ended with the perfect opportunity to.

We Rip The World Apart is an addictive, sweeping story, covering decades of the horrific realities for Black and Brown people. It’s also a story about the resilience and determination of women, driven by forces such as love and justice. Full of raw emotion and some harrowing events such as police brutality and sexual assault, We Rip The World Apart is an important novel that is not for the faint-hearted.

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure if it was going to be my sort of thing, but within about 3 chapters I knew I would end up loving it.
This book is set in the 1980's, the 1990's and the present day, and it predominantly follows the Lives of Evelyn who is a white woman, her husband Kingsley who is black and from Jamaica, and their 2 children Antony and Kareela.
It's a heartbreaking read, and the main focus is the racism that they all encountered over the decades of their lives, and how things have and sadly havnt changed.
This book took me ages to read, which is unlike me, but this is the sort of book that you want to savour every word, and you genuinely feel what they feel throughout the book
Anyone that truly knows me, knows that Racism is one thing I can't abide and can't get my head around, so this book was really hard to read.
It's a very powerful book, that will stay with me for a long time
Great Read - would highly recommend

Wow. This was a powerful, thought provoking,raw, real book. Albeit a fictional story you can tell this comes from a place of reality and that is what has hit me the most.
I won't post spoiler but I have a YouTube video with my reading vlog up on my channel.
I want to say a huge thank you to the publisher for reaching out and netgalley for providing the ARC.

PR/GIFTED 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 - We Rip the World Apart - Charlene Carr (out today!!)

We Rip the World Apart is a testament to the lengths families will go to to keep one another protected - and the generational trauma that can seep through.

Exploring themes of racism, finding a sense of self, sexual assault, and pro-choice - Carr has managed to insert so much important history and culture into a book that is extremely easy to digest (in terms of writing style; I actually cried like a baby 😮‍💨).

Carr has one of my favourite writing styles when it comes to contemporary literature - an almost conversationalist tone of voice that still consistently packs a punch. If you like books with GREAT dialogue, I think you’ll love Carr’s work.

Although this is not an easy read, it felt like a vital one. I cried in the middle of a Pret a Manger - so perhaps not one to read in public unless you’re a tad more composed than I am.

Emotional moving a novel of race and identity a book with much to think about.Beautifully written a novel that stays with you #netgalley#wellbeck

Following three generations dealing with family, motherhood, children and race. Kareela, who is from a black father and white mother, Evelyn and Evelyn’s mother in law Violet. Violet is there to guide Kareela through life and show her some of her heritage. The story of a multi racial family and the difficulties and pain faced in society.
This was a beautiful but sad read. Emotive and difficult in parts. Well worth a read and if you haven’t read this author before why not?
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Amazing book!
I was thoroughly engaged throughout this book and I didn't want to put it down! The author captured my attention from the get go! Five stars from me :)

This book ripped my heart apart. It was gut wrenchingly emotional, poignant, and beautifully written.
A thought provoked story about family, motherhood, racism, grief, trauma, healing and finding one's true self in the face of all the injustices in the world.

"And, unlike my parents before me, I’ll tell our stories. Let this child make sense of them as best she can. I’ll lay it all out—the good, the messy, the horrible, my whole damn life, and theirs—as much as I know of it. Everything we’ve been trying so hard to forget when, most likely, what we needed was to remember.”

Charlene Carr did a phenomenal job telling this story.....a story that will stay with me for a very long time to come.

“As long as yuh alive,” she says, “in every bad, if yuh wait, if yuh look, eventually yuh see a good. A good that wouldn’t have happened if not for the bad. Some lesson, some joy, some somet’ing. It doesn’t mean yuh happy de bad t’ing happened but yuh happy for de good t’ing. Yuh hold on to dat. Yuh be thankful. Holding de good.”

Thanks to Welbeck Publishing UK and NetGalley for the ARC

This was a really enjoyable, highly charged novel which takes on key themes such as race and identity.

The writing of Carr really pulls the story along fantastically and it was a joy to read this

There’s only a few things in this life I’m sure about - everyone looks cute with a nose piercing, ebooks count as “real books” and Charlene Carr without fail will make me feel things with every single book.

Rip The World Apart is a powerful, striking story that spans generations and timelines, weaving together these women’s lives and creating such an affecting, strong sense of connection that hits you in the chest. It’s a story about the crazy ways life can change in just a moment, and carries important conversations about how identity, heritage, race and prejudice can influence the path we’re on.

As we switch between timelines, the pace continues easily and flows naturally from one to another - each narrator has their own distinct voice but the beautiful, careful storytelling remains throughout. Each generation of women offer a look at how life for women, especially women of colour has changed over the years, and the heartbreaking things that haven’t changed. Carr speaks out about speaking out - about the continued fights against systems made to make women and people of colour fail and does it with such grace and authenticity that makes her so iconic.

And of course, as it’s Ms Carr I fell deeply in love with every single character and felt every single line.

Charlene Carr's writing is captivating and evocative, drawing readers into the complex emotions and experiences of the characters. The book tackles sensitive topics with sensitivity and nuance, shedding light on the struggles faced by biracial individuals and the lasting effects of systemic racism.
We Rip the World Apart is a poignant and timely novel that delves into the complexities of identity, family, and the power of speaking out. It is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the impact of silence and the quest for self-discovery in the face of adversity.

3.5 stars. This was a solid book about race, identity and finding one's self. It was well-written and had compelling characters.