Scan barcode
penofpossibilities's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Slavery and Religious bigotry
Minor: Gun violence and Miscarriage
littlefish's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, and Rape
mikarala'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
3.0
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.
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Abandonment
Moderate: Suicide and Excrement
arcadering'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
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
littlebrittofthis'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? Yes
4.0
Morrison is a powerhouse of showcasing the hard realities no one wants to face in such a way that we must always be confronted with it. Never, in a Morrison novel, are we allowed to forget what the central problem is. There is no lull into some false sense of security. There is only facing the harsh reality and the consequences of how we choose to deal with it.
This novel has been banned across schools in the U.S. since 1999 and continues to be. While I say this is an amazing read, there are heavy trigger warnings that everyone should check before picking this up. If working through this book, has taught me anything about the way we try to filter what we want society to be — whether it be through banning books that make us uncomfortable or through ostracizing people we classify as Other because they make us afraid — it’s that doing so has nothing but horrendously negative results. Pecola’s story is fiction, but just how fictitious is it, really? And what does it mean when we won’t listen? What does it mean when we won’t look her in the eye?
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy
tessazwaan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexual violence
jessalex610'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexual violence
Explicit: Very blatant colorism, estranged father rejecting child, incest rape,aleksanski'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
3.75
Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
esther_5'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, and Abandonment
iarlais'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
4.0
Claudia and Frieda are sympathetic protagonists, but it is Pecola who is the true center of the story. Pecola's well-woven and crushing tale serves to show us the horrifying levels of abuse that permeated the civilisation that she inhabited. The abuse that she received was born out of the racism that reigned over every aspect of American society, from the films that Pauline viewed to the dolls that the three girls looked at. This novel examines this hatred and how it comes to be accepted by many of the characters, how they have unquestioningly internalized it and directed their anger not back at their racist systems and country, but at the ones even further below them in society, like black girls.
In doing all of this, Morrison packs the book full of character, creating human characters with realistic faults. She shows how some of these faults were forcefully impressed as opposed to them being developed, and how the impacts they have on minds lead to horrific consequences. She shows just how all-powerful American racism is by presenting its presence in all aspects of its society, and makes it clear that oftentimes people will not triumph over it. Such a malevolent, pervading force very much can break its victims, to the point that they can't come back.
The book is not without its flaws - in my opinion, it could have had a stronger impact had it been longer (Morrison herself notes in an afterword that most people were "touched - but not moved), and I think that its shortness results in most of the characters seeming underdeveloped, as The Bluest Eye has many, and not all can share the spotlight. And yet, it's still a beautiful, depressing, and genuinely important novel that gives a voice to the voiceless.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny
Minor: Bullying