Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Street by Ann Petry

14 reviews

clarkg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

If you are looking for a story about overcoming adversity a la "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", this is not it. Told primarily from the perspective of Lutie Johnson, a single mother trying to improve her circumstances in 1940s Harlem, "The Street" explores how the ceaseless structural barriers presented to low-income Black Americans shape their decisions, relationships, and imaginations. Ann Petry is undoubtedly one of the great New England writers and her sharp, insightful, and masterfully descriptive prose are central to this book's stellar execution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

katharina90's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Really well written. Keeps you reading even though the pace is slow and the plot extremely depressing. 

There's nothing happy or hopeful about this story, and the layers of oppression and injustice remain virtually unchanged almost a century later. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Stalking, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Slavery

walkie_check's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jwells's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense

In her introduction to my edition, Tayari Jones says that The Street has elements of pulp crime fiction. I'm not sure if she meant it as a compliment - possibly as a neutral observation - but it might help explain how this book can be so unrelentingly grim, but at the same time, so hard to put down. I got swept up in Petry's storytelling, so that every time I looked up from the book, I was surprised (and relieved) to see my own life around me instead of Lutie's. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Violence

N-word used, when quoting racist white people

littleheartsx6's review against another edition

challenging sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

fates_fables_golem's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. Unsure how to rate at this moment in time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is heckin intense. I'll have to read it again. The most unsettling part is seeing how little things have changed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Abandonment

I extremely do not recommend this book for anyone sensitive to stalking/assault. Parts are very hard to read.

bianca_topete's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

This is such an impactful story that is emotional, reflective and sad but not dark. Its not a dark book in the sense where it makes you feel dread or horror. But as you read, your emotions are neutral through all because its the weird feeling of relatability. Ann Petry tells the story in a way that it is too realistic that you can't help but be numb about it. It would be like watching a film of your own life, you know those emotions and you can't help but have no reaction to them. It's a weird feeling that I felt whilst reading but I'm not saying it as a bad thing. I liked it, because it made the ending much painful and unexpected. The ending is what completes the story, how heartbreaking it is but also shows the reality of it all. All loose ends are not tied up but rather left there because that's how life is. You never really tie it all together. We follow other characters that are so raw that the characters don't feel like characters but rather humans. It's as if I'm a scientist studying people forced in a horrible situation, taking notes and not being able to do anything but reflect and spread the knowledge I learned. That is the whole story, a study of humans trapped in the most narrowest of trails. Great story! Changed my thinking and overall enjoyed it.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, and Police brutality

violentcello's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault

mariaviola's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

“from the time she was born, she had been hemmed into an ever-narrowing space, until now she was very nearly walled in and the wall had been built up brick by brick by eager white hands.”

after finishing the street, all i can say is that this was a heartbreaking read, and what made it so heartbreaking was all of its honesty. there is no sugarcoating here—here is the story of a poor black single mother living in the 1940s and the things she goes through in trying to build a better life for her and her son. it’s raw and painful and some characters you will just want to hug and others you will want to beat the sh*t out of. it’s not very fast-paced but it’s a must-read in my opinion.

→ my rating ♡ 4.5/5 stars ←

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment