Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Matar un ruiseñor

A novel which endeavours to teach anti-racism. We follow the child protagonists gradually unlearn the racism of the society in which they grew up, alongside their justice-seeking father Atticus and their underwritten, maternal housekeeper Calpurnia.

However, it falls short at times. There are microaggressions, an attitude of making nice with racists and a misshandling of how rape should be prosecuted (Atticus believes that there should be two witnesses) which keeps this novel firmly in its era and prevents it from being progressive. For what it is, this is novel has its merits and the courtroom scenes are incredibly gripping.

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ieotter13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I see why this book is a classic! It’s good - and picked up in the middle. I enjoyed the court case and found the discussion of race to be particularly interesting when read over 50 years later. As someone who’s trying to cover the “classics,” this one was worth it.

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ohdeerboi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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? N/A

4.25

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jerseynoonatic's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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? Yes

5.0

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ellaz2008's review against another edition

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

3.5

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zara89's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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? Yes

5.0

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annapox's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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

Content Warnings

sassmistress's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense

5.0

Wow. I really dropped the ball not reading this one until now. I'm sure it's much more impactful as a parent, though. Gripping, emotional ride from start to finish. Such perfect detail I had to keep reminding myself that it's a work of fiction.

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.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Confinement, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Death of parent

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:

the defendant, by 18ish bullet wounds, while trying to escape a prison camp.

Another man is killed while

trying to murder children, via stabbing by an unexpected rescuer. One child receives a horribly broken arm and is knocked out.

A rabid dog is shot.

Domestic violence:

the accusing white woman was actually beaten heavily by her father when he discovered she was making advances on the black man.

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".

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