Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

took a while to get going but the ending made the parts that felt like a slog worthwhile. loved the friendship and duty of protection between Dodo and Monkey Pants. difficult subject matter but I’m glad I read this

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tiredfangirl's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.5

When I started this book, it was feeling like a solid three star read. It was digestible, if definitely written in the literary fiction style.

The first read flag was the amount it explained. As a Jewish person, it’s written with a very familiar storytelling style; however, the amount of explanation made it clear very quickly that this book wasn’t really written for Jews.

Then it used sexual assault as a plot device. And I was ready to let it go as something that is frustrating but unfortunately par for the course in literary fiction. And then it did it AGAIN.

And then it resolved the initial mystery in a way so irrelevant to 90% of the rest of the book that I would have DNFed if I wasn’t 30 pages from the end already.

If this had stayed a series of vignettes about people dealing with oppression in different ways and navigating the similarities/differences in the way they are marginalized, I would have been so on board. Honestly, it was only when it decided to have a plot that I started to hate it.

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thebearlinwall's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

3.75

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mikaclapson's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious

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

3.75

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zozo_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

very heavy, sad, scary, and hopeful. made me cry multiple times

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jschwie2's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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mybeautifulillusion's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

I finished this book in 3 days, I could not put it down! On the first day, I read the first 100 pages. The author is a little over descriptive at times, but the characters and plot are fleshed out and interconnected in such a creative and interesting way. A really great read!

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charrrchar's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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