Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

44 reviews

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark sad

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexism, Excrement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

grboph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

5.0

This was quite the read. It was definitely one of the most heartbreaking stories I've ever read, and the characters were fully fleshed out and even the more insignificant ones played important roles. Morrison's writing is so beautiful and engaging that despite how heavy this book is, it made me want to read more of her books as soon as I can. I would recommend this book to just about anyone out there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Hate crime, Mental illness, Slavery, and Blood

iheartapolloxxi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sienna_54's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

cried in public TWICE reading this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

vanesst's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

aleksanski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

gkgkgk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Toni Morrison was a visionary.  This, her first novel, was my first foray into her work, and I found it approachable, yet deep with meaning.  It borrows its structure from a children’s “Dick and Jane” story, which Toni reads like a haunting incantation.  Her narration of the entire book is flawless and stunning, like the text itself.  The novel circles around Pecola, who rarely narrates but whose story is largely told by other characters, often children.  Her story is traumatic yet minimally graphic, making it appropriate, even, for most sensitive readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

Minor: Abandonment

shoshin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I read this book for two reading challenges: one covering women who have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, the other for reading banned books.

I can see why this book has been banned, and while I'm very much against banning books, this one would need careful and thoughtful discussion with teens who read it. I was especially disturbed by

the sympathetic way Morrison portrayed Charlie, who raped and impregnated his 11-year-old daughter and was portrayed a merely being swept up in the moment because his daughter reminded him of his wife when they first met

. On the whole, I wasn't all that impressed with the book. Morrison has an afterword in which she expresses her own dissatisfaction with how it was received vs what her goals were in writing it. Knowing her goals, I see what she was trying to do, but ultimately agree with her later-in-life assessment that she missed the mark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death and Miscarriage