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sassmistress's review against another edition
5.0
Favorite fictional father so far! Just wow. And the slow unfolding of events as understood by a child overhearing things and not fully grasping the implications of situations is just perfection.
Graphic: Death, Murder, Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Racism, Physical abuse, and Police brutality
Moderate: Incest, Animal death, Sexism, Death of parent, Misogyny, Ableism, Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Slavery, Stalking, and Terminal illness
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Suicide, and War
This book is for adults. It centers around a rape trial in which a black man is (falsely) accused of assaulting a white woman in a heavily segregated Alabama town.It's deeply immersive, in a culture where racism is woven into the culture and impossible to avoid. The KKK and the "War Between the States" are part of recent cultural memory. Black defendants are always convicted no matter what. Lynching and mob violence are a very near threat.
Expectedly, the n-word abounds, among other racial slurs. Other language is not infrequent, including he**, g-d-, b****, wh*re, d**n, sl*t, etc. Lord's name in vain quite a few times.
Lots of death--not gory, but as close as it gets without actually witnessing it. Old age, and talk of the body being carried out of the home. Death penalty discussed often. A man dies:
Domestic violence:
Morphine addiction is discussed and withdrawals are shown.
Both respectable and "unrespectable" poverty are shown.
Schoolyard bullying and fights, neighborhood verbal abuse and gossip about many culturally relevant "deficiencies" like unladylikeness, mental illness, intellectual disability, not being sufficiently racist, etc.
Lots of portrayals of Christianity. Some are good, including the nearest relationships to the MC, but many are not. A neighbor reports that a different sort of baptist told her she was going to hell, MC loses "confidence in pulpit gospel" when thinking on what a good person the neighbor is. "Foot-washers think women are a sin by definition. They take the Bible literally, you know." The ladies' missionary society talks about global cultures with pity and exaggeration, often conflating spiritual issues with cultural differences. A white employer tells her black housekeeper she's not being a good Christian when she is visibly affected by a serious injustice in the local community and nearly fired her for it. Etc, many more.
Other spiritual content: Kids spook each other with talk of spirits on dirt roads. "Dill was a villain's villain: he could get into any character part assigned him, and appear tall if height was part of the devilry required. "
Besides the rape trial and moderately explicit testimony, which includes brief mention of domestic SA, there's other, more minor sexual content. Incest in local families is mentioned very specifically a few times. There's a quick joke about infidelity. Kids lie and say they were playing strip poker, which gets them into trouble (less because they played with matches instead of cards). There's a "swift" kid kiss, and a boy climbs into bed with a girl he keeps promising to marry some day, but it's platonic.
"I'll tan you" and many other such comments, severe corporal punishment for children being an expected part of the culture. Kids laugh when the teacher gives "quick little pats" on the hand when they realize it was meant to be a "whipping".
nayeliv's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Cursing, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Rape, Alcohol, Animal death, Bullying, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Death, Police brutality, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Domestic abuse
c_e_w's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Racism, Racial slurs, Animal death, Incest, Violence, Bullying, Grief, Sexism, Death of parent, and Rape
sylvermist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Such a beautiful book should not need more than two months to finish, but what can I say, this was the month of the thesis deadline....
This book took me down an emotional roller-coaster. I know well the hypocrisy of men and societies. But I needed this story to get to know people like Atticus, Jem, and even Arthur Radley, and to see life from a child's view. I needed this story to again remind me that some people are still out there, worthy to be lived for. We need such reminders from time to time.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Death
pabi's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, Classism, Racism, Rape, and Stalking
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Addiction
elspethmigliore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
there’s so many layers to this story and so much to unpack, so i’ll just say that i genuinely enjoyed it. i know it’s controversial, but i really did like it. i laughed and cried and i think it was very reflective in many ways. the character development was incredible, but also i guess that’s the point of the story. the way scout reflects on her story at the end from a different perspective gave me a very strong sense of completeness. i’m sad after reading this, but also i feel ready to go into my english class tomorrow and reflect on it.
definitely a reread ✅
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Cursing, Bullying, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Classism, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Grief, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Addiction, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Child abuse
bookaholic_in_wonderland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Death, Cursing, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Ableism, Alcoholism, Rape, Alcohol, Incest, Slavery, and Sexism
nindie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
While reading the book, my main thought was constantly wishing to finish the book. Not only was it because I had a deadline coming up, but also it was because I found the book to be predominantly dull. There were many descriptions, characters, scenarios and even chapters that I felt were pointless in including or making a lengthy part of the book when it was unnecessary. A lot of these things included barely contributed to the plot, characters and overall themes. Because of this, the only sections where I had an interest in because they were significant were the
There is another thing in which I found a problem, but this was just my personal preferences. I know that society's attitudes towards some communities were very disrespectful and corrupt at the time of this book. Despite this, I still felt tremendously uncomfortable reading this book because of the language used and the characters, even when aware of this information. It isn't the book's fault, in a way. It's because I don't feel as comfortable reading stuff like this, and I had to read this book for school and wasn't aware of how many things like this are in the book.
A last thing to say is I found too many characters included. Assumingly half mentioned wasn't necessary for anything or were mentioned in only 1-3 unimportant sentences. At one point, there were so many that I couldn't keep track of who was who.
All I was pointing out were negative points, but I like the themes it discusses, and I look forward to analysing the text thoroughly to learn more about those themes for my school work.
Graphic: Racism, Death, Confinement, Rape, Violence, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Cursing, Animal death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
Minor: Antisemitism, Bullying, Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Incest, War, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, and Suicide
tinkithesquirelll's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Gun violence, Child abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Hate crime, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Incest, Bullying, Stalking, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Rape, and Slavery
owlreads_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Classism, Hate crime, Incest, Racism, Domestic abuse, Death, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Blood, Sexism, and Cursing
Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury