Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

47 reviews

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ughhh! Books like this make me so frustrated in their realness. Even though I knew exactly where this was headed I could not help myself to feel hopeful and expect something different.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Police brutality

Moderate: Rape and Sexual content

midnightmarauder's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

If Beale Street Could Talk is a novel that follows the two protagonists, Fonny, a young man who is currently in jail for rape, and his girlfriend, Tish, who finds out that she is pregnant while Fonny is serving his sentence. The book mainly follows Tish as she and her family attempt to get Fonny out of jail. 

The book is a romance novel through and through. The love that Tish has for Fonny and vice versa is constantly put on display. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

mistermeek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Sexual assault

fictionalfrank's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

eve81's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Antisemitism

carly25's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny fast-paced

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

4.5

A story about black America that’s not written for a white audience or the “white gaze”. I liked the way the narrator talks about people sometimes by name as though they’re strangers and other times by their familial relation. It kept an interesting distance although she was a protagonist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

haileyeh's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicide, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

sarabrogan's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Police brutality

Moderate: Cursing, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage

brianareads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Racial slurs

Moderate: Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

mattyvreads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Gorgeously written and utterly haunting. One of the best books I have ever read, period. 

It’s a not-so-far-fetched fiction which is unfortunately, equally relevant today. It is so much more than a love story, although few succeed in painting as clear and honest a picture of humanity as Baldwin.

It’s hard to write a review for this book because words fail to describe it’s poignance and import. Absolutely everyone should read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicide, and Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry