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thomasina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Animal death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
mayszn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Incest, 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: Excrement, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Racism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Addiction, Mental illness, Classism, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Child abuse, Bullying, Misogyny, Incest, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, and Hate crime
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: Child abuse, Racism, Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexual assault, Classism, Domestic abuse, Incest, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Animal death, and Pedophilia
mmccombs's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Incest, Rape, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Racism, Misogyny, and Animal death
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: Death, Grief, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Racism
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: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Violence, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Animal death
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: Sexual assault, Rape, and Racism
Moderate: Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
Minor: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Pedophilia
jocelyn_t's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Body shaming, Grief, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Abandonment and Religious bigotry
bugsybooks'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Classism, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Rape, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Sexism, Cursing, Misogyny, and Sexual assault