Reviews - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

12.5k reviews for:

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

James McBride

3.9 AVERAGE

greenteaka's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

destiel74's review against another edition

4.5

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The book is very much focused on history and likes to pay attention the characters’ backstories and is not told in a linear fashion. It’s good but it’s slow.

joerhamilton's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

anabelleelaine's review against another edition

3.25

Too many cooks in the kitchen

akwfrost's review against another edition

4.75

emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Slow start but once I got into it I was hooked. Incredibly moving and thought provoking.

rclausen13's review against another edition

3.5

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: No

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store begins as a mystery with the discovery of a skeleton in the once vibrant Black and Jewish community of Chicken Hill in Pottstown, PA. As the mystery unravels, we’re brought back in time to the 1920s-1930s and introduced to a large (at times TOO large) cast of characters who are all in someway related to an accidental murder. The novel centers around Moshe, and Jewish theater owner, and his wife, Chona, who runs a grocery store that caters largely to the Black population of Chicken Hill. McBride explores race relations in pre-Civil rights America as the deeply interwoven community is brought together in their quest to protect Dodo, a deaf, Black boy sent away to an asylum. Although slow at times, this novel was a fascinating exploration of the relationship between the Black/Jewish communities and the double edged sword of assimilating into White American society.

melaniearchercat's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional hopeful slow-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

I’ll start by saying that this is a very character-focused book, and the plot was at times slow and meandering due to the intense focus on each character’s personality and backstory. This will not be for everyone, and if this doesn’t sound like your thing, don’t bother reading it.

That being said, personally, I loved it. Each character had so much depth, and I laughed out loud at times at the very frank and quietly funny descriptions of their observations and actions.

This book is, at its core, a beautiful and descriptive tale of what can be done when people show each other kindness. It shows how much better off we are when diverse people listen to each other, work together, and love each other.