Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

8 reviews

schorlett's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Grief, Suicide, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Blood, Bullying, and Pregnancy

itsy719's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, Slavery, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Vomit

a_alves00's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Suicide, Death of parent, and Racism

michaelion's review

emotional funny medium-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

4.25

Teenage me would've loved this.

I think the movie warped my  little baby brain, so then I ended up liking stuff like The Help and Hairspray, which I absolutely was obsessed with. But the focus on women, bees, connections to mothers and ancestry and selfs... Like ancestry lives within you and also you are your own mother... That white lady kinda popped off writing this. She kinda had a point to make. She kinda dotted her i's and crossed her t's. She kinda had her cake and ate it too. She kinda gobbled ate right the fuck up left no crumbs. She kinda did her thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Racism, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Child abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Torture, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Police brutality, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Child death

Minor: Vomit, Misogyny, and War

orchidlilly's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

So... This was not nearly as great of a classic as I was led to expect. First of all, it succumbs to the common pitfall of all books of whatever genre this is; it's so unbearably pessimistic. Most of the book is pg torture porn wherein we watch the protagonist suffer while also getting blasted with the fact that she isn't suffering nearly as much as other people. The commentary on racism is cliche and not very well addressed. Every single black woman is the mammy stereotype, I didn't know it was even possible to have every character be the same stereotype. They all have practically no depth and no arcs of their own besides 'we exist to further the character arc of Lily'. The take on racism at the time is extremely one-sided and, pardon the wording, entirely black and white. And my biggest issue; I get that it's a coming of age novel, but the romance is, quite frankly, gross. Lily is 14, middle school age, and Zach is, from my recollection, gearing up to head into college, already weird. Then you have to factor in that completely out of the blue segment in the book where the love interest sucks honey off the main character's fingers. This scene is described in detail, about how it makes her slightly hot and bothered, and how she's also semi disgusted with herself because loving a black man is wrong. This scene is so entirely jarring and completely unnecessary that it pretty well ruined the entire book for me. The romance isn't even a main part of the book, but it's just so uncomfortable that I couldn't focus on anything else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Mental illness, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual content, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Blood, and Bullying

dudette's review against another edition

inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Bullying

savannah_c_dipasquale's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, and Police brutality

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Classism

isabellarob73's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

1.5

I feel that this story is very well written and I see how it is beloved by so many. At the same time I never need to read a story that focuses on black women written by a white woman. This book makes all black women mammy caricatures to the protagonist. It also seems to rely on learning that black people are as beautiful and cultured as white people as a way to stop racism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, and Suicide