Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

42 reviews

aude's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Slavery, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty

eggfartz's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Torture, Violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, War, Alcohol, and Body horror

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Abandonment, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Trafficking, Child abuse, Sexism, Violence, and War

laraamaee's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.25

It’s a crime that this is my first proper Toni Morrison read. I’ve been wanting to read Beloved for years, having heard so much about it, but put it off because of the dark/heavy subject matter.

I finally got round to it by doing a buddy read, and after about 50 pages, I couldn’t put it down.

Morrison is a master of storytelling, of deftly weaving the webs of the past & present together to create an unchronological unfolding of horror. Beloved is haunting, violent, mysterious. The trauma of slavery bleeds through the entire book, which makes it very hard to swallow (especially as it’s based on the true story of Margaret Garner). But since America was basically founded on slavery…Morrison’s work is an essential read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Child death

doctorjessie's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Child death

reidmoore's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, and Slavery

Read it for a college lit class. It certainly has its cultural value, but I did not enjoy reading it (personally).

katiemeredith's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

This is my all-time favorite book. This book is for you if you love psychological horror/thrillers and challenging reading. Learning to read Morrison's narration is difficult but incredibly rewarding once mastered. This is a book that will truly make you understand the horror of slavery and its long-lasting effects on its victims. Pretty much every content warning imaginable is described in great detail, so be cautious if you are vulnerable to being affected by certain events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Cursing, Sexual assault, Murder, Child abuse, Racism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Child death, Death, Suicide, Rape, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse

flara's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

Beloved tackles many difficult themes, given its historical context (black community post-American Civil War). This was rather mysterious and confusing read. I found the pace quite slow, which wasn't helped by the 'mystical' mood and language used throughout. I struggled to distinguish what line belonged to which character; if what was said was an actual line or if it was a description, and so on. 

Spoiler

I didn't go into this blindly. I knew the basic premise of the book and therefore had high expectations. I did not expect it to be about a ghost that haunts its dysfunctional family and later materialises in flesh (and then dissolves into thin air altogether at the very end).

Certain passages are quite graphic and potentially triggering for some. I suppose that the supernatural elements offset some of the cruelty, but it just wasn't the right fit for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Child death, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Murder, War, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship

mayaschmerf's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Grief, Mental illness, Child death, Death, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Racism

definitely_bs's review

I was spiraling into a depressive cycle and couldn't deal with it,

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Pregnancy, War, Rape, Slavery, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Death