Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

36 reviews

solid_circle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Racism

Moderate: Death, Slavery, and Violence

fieldsofclovers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed it a lot more in the later chapters, when I stopped taking notes. As with most books, I think I would have liked it more if I read it outside of class. Very well done!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings

gellyreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.75

So, I had to restart this book to understand it. I didn’t enjoy Milkman nor did I enjoy the ending of this novel. The only thing I really loved was Pilate. She was everything in this novel and the majority of part 2. Guitar was also fun. I feel like I wouldn’t be rating this so high if I hadn’t just finished The Bluest Eye and felt so left behind by it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

momogajo's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

Once you get past the first few chapters it picks up. I didn't think that the book was for me until I sat with it for a while. It has some central themes of family, friendship, and racism that the further splinters out into many other themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse and Alcohol

margahhrett's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Suicide

lqne's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Pedophilia

Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Slavery, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Classism

kers_tin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

clara_mai's review against another edition

5.0

 What a brilliant, complex and powerful novel. While telling the coming-of-age story of the protagonist Milkman, how he grows up in Michigan and eventually moves from North to South in a hunt for gold and a discovery of his ancestry, Morrison also fans out the narrative and introduces about a dozen side characters. They and their stories, and relationships add layer after layer and the further you get into this story, the more connections are revealed to you, if you just read carefully enough. I definitly had to focus and work quite a bit to keep up the level of attention this book demands and it was quite a challenging read. The second half of the book was significantly easier for me and towards the end I coninued to be even more captivated than before. This is the first book by Toni Morrison that I read in the English original (I read an older German translation of Beloved last year and had a feeling that it did not do justice to the original, the newer ones might be better though) and it was such a pleasure to experience the beauty and power of her prose first hand. I won't even try to sum up all the themes and symbolism Morrison incorporated into this story and would instead suggest to everyone to pick up the book and embark on the absolutely wild and enriching journey that is Song of Solomon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

noonjinx's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

A beautifully written book.

The novel follows Macon “Milkman” Dead as he struggles to trace his families’ history and find his place within it. He starts out selfish and alienated, but learns to love and value the people around him as he goes.

The book explores racism and it’s legacy within black communities as well as across society. The characters are all wonderful (especially the older women). The story is full of powerful allusions and symbols. It’s at turns funny, exciting, brutal and sad, but ultimately a story of freedom and hope.

Definitely one I will read again one day

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder