Reviews

This was not at all what I expected. There’s a character called Tar Baby in one of Morrison’s other books, and I had convinced myself that this book was that character’s story. Oops, that’s not what this is at all.

This was a tough read. There’s domestic and sexual violence depicted with nuance. It makes for a mentally strenuous experience. I don’t think Morrison is telling us sexual violence is ok, but I do think she likes humanize all her characters. Makes for tricky reading.

So many BIG themes here. Racism, sexism, classism, motherhood, generational differences, love. To tackle all this the structure of the story does feel strange but I was satisfied with it.

For me Jadine and Son’s story was an exploration of irreconcilable differences between two Black people approaching their Blackness and life in general in very different ways. There were laudable and despicable aspects to both of them. But of course, they’ve been pushed into this dichotomy because of the legacy of slavery and exploitation (past and present).

But the book also includes a lot of content around Ondine and Sydney, Margaret and Valerian. And complex relationship dynamics that intertwine amongst all the characters. It’s hard to say Son and Jadine are the main characters until the last third.

ALL of the characters had sympathetic aspects and awful aspects. That’s one of Morrison’s strengths.

abiwyatt3's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

abbyschafer's review against another edition

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5.0

these characters are messssyyyyyy

pvrisreadinggurl40's review against another edition

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2.0

This book had a very weird ending. There were some things I understood VERY clearly, others I was like...huh? Some of the folklore/imagery is weird. But I got the important parts...I think.

apullabhotla's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked this, thank god; I was worried I didn’t drop + the books were still bad. Different versions of blackness, feminism, has all the social movement shit you’d expect from a book writtten in the eighties. First Toni Morrison, happily enjoyed for the most part. Accidentally read the dog-fucking scene in the car with like five other people and was wildly uncomfortable though.

nellethebelle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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