Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Najbardziej niebieskie oko by Toni Morrison

46 reviews

ldpaige's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I hate that I didn't completely love this like everyone else did. After looking at various blogposts and book club breakdowns, I was able to better understand what I just heard over a course of a few days. With a better understanding, I was able to appreciate this disturbing read. 

Morrison tends to lean to the macabre and the countercultural, which is normally for me. This just didn't translate the way I would have liked for it to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Mental illness, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Incest

charisw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Rape, Incest, Pregnancy, and Sexism

lisesenb's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Challenging but important

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Body shaming, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Incest, Classism, Mental illness, Colonisation, Excrement, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Death, and Pregnancy

seullywillikers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Such beautiful language to express such horrific things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

lindseyas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

If there's someone out there that has a solid grasp on human nature, its got to be Toni Morrison. What a craftswoman when it comes to writing her characters to be so deep, with so many flaws and personal pitfalls that they seem to overflow. She just has this type of hold over what it means to be human that you tend to forget you aren't reading nonfiction. This novel, her first (which is so insane to me), recalls the story of a small town where all but hell breaks loose, from family dilapidation to the spread of casual — and violent — racism. The stars of the novel, however, are the young Black girls that are growing up in this environment, overwhelmed with society's standards and plans for them. The concept of beauty and innocence is a White one in this novel, where the blue eyes are a desirable attribute, because it means safety from all harm, an escape from the torment of being misunderstood and unseen. A simple symbol for race and gender, this book tells a nauseating story of when innocence is taken advantage of and girls are ignored for what they are. My only gripe was the constantly switching perspectives with no clear distinctions in speaker, sort of made it hard to read. Other than that, another massive success.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Incest

aritan's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Pregnancy, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark sad

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Incest, Racial slurs, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Rape, Colonisation, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Sexual violence, Addiction, Bullying, Death, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Slavery

Minor: Gun violence and Miscarriage

vvaanneessssaa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Abandonment, and Racial slurs

mikarala's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• 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

3.0

Well I'm glad I read it, but I can't say I enjoyed the experience. Morrison's prose is incredibly poignant and poetic, however this novel feels more like a series of vignettes than a true narrative, and the characters feel more like symbols than real people. Also, it served a purpose in the story, but the way bodily functions and sexual urges were described practically had me retching in real life. On one hand, that's really a credit to Morrison's writing that she was able to affect such a physical response, but also, it really contributed to how unpleasant parts of this novel were to read.

But again, that's kind of the point. This isn't supposed to be an easy read. It's horrifying, but it's meant to be because Morrison wants to depict how intergenerational trauma and internalized racism have affected the Black community. So for that reason, I found this hard to rate. In terms of getting its message across, I give this book 5 stars. But I just hated this experience of reading this so much (seriously, watch out for all the content warnings) that I can't really rate it higher.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Incest, Abandonment, Animal death, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Suicide and Excrement

booknerd_therapist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was recently a subject of controversy (read: banned), so the local book store owner held a book club for it and ordered a bunch of copies. I didn't make it to the club but bought it anyway.

I can see why white people are so disturbed by it. *I* am disturbed by it and I was prepared (somewhat) for controversial issues.

When I sit with and look past my discomfort.... what is underneath that is wonderment that white children are so shielded from the horrors black children are exposed to regularly.* I can see why white parents are so reactive.... if their white children had any idea what their black friends, teammates, frenemies, etc had to live with, it would shatter everything their mostly-white schools, churches, sports teams, etc were trying to teach them about the world and their place in it.

I do recommend this to my white friends because I believe it is equally valuable to any non-fiction antiracist book when it comes to challenging racism. And it is a beautiful work on its own. Just be prepared to sit with your discomfort.

*One of the recurring themes in the book is sexual abuse. I feel the need to give a disclaimer that sexual abuse is absolutely not a racial issue, but rather an issue children in general are exposed to. Part of the author's overall goal is to speak to the lives of children and their inherent vulnerability.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Incest, Rape, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Racial slurs, Mental illness, Abandonment, Addiction, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death