Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

170 reviews

courtneybsmith's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Vomit

sopopia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Pedophilia, Rape, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs and Death

pixie_d's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Excrement, Rape, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia

sara_o's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

This book reads like a wood screw.  It starts with a bang and I was kind of expecting a mystery, what with the discovery of a skeleton in a well.  What I got was a story of a community that that cinches tighter and tighter and tighter as the pages turn, so that what seems to be meandering observations in the beginning come full circle in the tight, extremely satisfying  end. 

I really enjoyed it, in spite of the slow start.  I loved the characters and the balance of heartache and brutality with love, hope, and community.  There are a LOT of characters and they all were well-drawn and had their own complexities and motivations.  I didn't find it to be an easy book, but neither did I find it hard to read, in spite of the difficult subjects broached.  I really glad I picked this one up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Forced institutionalization

jasisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

Minor: Child abuse

elletrixie's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Ableism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Antisemitism, Rape, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Racism, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

maddiet425's review against another edition

slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

I wanted so badly to like this book, and there were parts of it that I absolutely loved. However, there were too many characters, all with their own complex backstories for any growth or development to occur. I found that this made the story quite slow and boring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

mizheatherhunter's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

Fell in love with this book and the path a community took to create and ensure a future for a child. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Rape, Pedophilia, and Religious bigotry

doublel11's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

2.25

The town and characters were interesting and mostly likeable, but I wasn't a fan of this writing style. More than half of the novel was just backstory about the characters. I didn't understand what the plot was going to be until a third of the way into it. The epilogue wrapped things up nicely, but the book started out confusing and didn't really hook me in until almost the end. This writing style was just not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Child abuse

jordymyers's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Antisemitism, Racism, Child abuse, and Sexual assault