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hapikohw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Pecola Breedlove, there are many of you. Many failed. May we fail many others no more.
Toni Morrison, may you rest in peace and power. You completed everything you hoped to in your foreword.
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
biobeetle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Death and Pregnancy
thomasina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
mayszn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Racism, and Rape
silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love of a free man is never safe. There is no gift for the beloved. The lover alone possesses his gift of love. The loved one is shorn, neutralized, frozen in the glare of the lover’s inward eye.
I think the quote above speaks for itself. There is no wonder that Toni Morrison is so beloved amongst both book readers and those who do not tend to read quite as often. This book is so moving, striking and shocking. Being Morrison's debut novel, I get the sense that she has not yet come into herself as a writer, but the writing is gorgeous nonetheless and accomplishes exactly what the author sets off to achieve from the start (according to the author's note). For the time in which it is written, this book and its narrative are exceptionally innovative, the language is exciting and memorable, and the characters are multidimensional and complex.
Overall, I am disappointed that I did not read this sooner. Morrison is an absolute treasure!
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
minayana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book is a hard read, and it did a bit too much towards the end for me personally. I don’t think there was a reason to show the rape of Pecola considering we already know from the very beginning of the book that it happens. I also really didn’t understand the point of the POV of “Soaphead” except to be gratuitously disturbing.
This book covers so many extremely important topics and themes, and I would definitely recommend, but PLEASE check the trigger warnings before reading!
A few other things I had issues with. The way fat characters are treated and described are pretty fatphobic, but I’m not surprised considering the time it was published. There’s also a character who doesn’t enjoy sex with her husband, and finds comfort in her cat. There’s really weird descriptions of her experiencing “pleasure” from her cat sitting on her lap and stuff like that ??? Weird and once again, gratuitous.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Classism
mmccombs's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, and Rape
risemini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
zsyh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
joga's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs