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m1nature's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
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? Yes
3.5
A tough, but important read.
Intense and disturbing, but most of all full of truth.
It's not a book I would recommend to everyone, and it's not one I particularly enjoyed (although the writing was beautiful), but it's a story that made me think and consider how different decisions can be when life has been lived in a context that is so far flung from my own.
Thought provoking and moving and important.
Please make note of the trigger warnings before reading.
Intense and disturbing, but most of all full of truth.
It's not a book I would recommend to everyone, and it's not one I particularly enjoyed (although the writing was beautiful), but it's a story that made me think and consider how different decisions can be when life has been lived in a context that is so far flung from my own.
Thought provoking and moving and important.
Please make note of the trigger warnings before reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Child abuse, Violence, Child death, Racism, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Death, Vomit, Misogyny, Mental illness, Rape, Slavery, Physical abuse, Murder, Animal death, and Blood
danielreader64's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-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
rbrett1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
annie_g_scott's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bibliophyle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-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? It's complicated
5.0
jujulemonade's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
completely uncanny. absolutely amazing
jenmorton's review
Too slow, especially with how soft and quiet Toni Morrison's voice is.
biobabe's review against another edition
5.0
Probably 4.5. Genuinely painful and powerful, I did struggle with a few sections (a failing more on me than on Ms. Morrison; I understand why she wrote the sections as she did, even if I struggled)
hollyway's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
Trying and failing to find the words to describe this book and the experience of reading it. There is so much being explored here, approached in such a unique way, so distinctly Morrison. The way she paints love as a malevolent force is something I have never seen before and I can tell is going to stick with me. Of course this is both on the surface and at its core, a story about slavery, and is aptly galling and disturbing. This subject matter in fiction is often rife with worn-out tropes and platitudes, but Morrison easily avoids these by creating fully realised, idiosyncratic characters for us to follow. The universal exists in the specificity of these characters and their stories.
This is a novel with shifting points of view and non-linear storylines, two things that I usually avoid like the plague because they keep me at a distance from the characters and their experience. Morrison is one of the very few who can write in such a way and keep me not only engaged but enthralled and aching for the characters at every step, and I honestly don't know how she does it.
There are so many things to say about this novel; about oppression and subjugation, about freedom, about loneliness, about hauntings, about mothers and daughters - about love. More than I can articulate, which is why Toni Morrison did it for me. As unsettling as this was to read, I'm so glad to have read it.
Edit: back a few days later to bump this from 4 stars to 5 as I cannot stop thinking about this book jesus christ
This is a novel with shifting points of view and non-linear storylines, two things that I usually avoid like the plague because they keep me at a distance from the characters and their experience. Morrison is one of the very few who can write in such a way and keep me not only engaged but enthralled and aching for the characters at every step, and I honestly don't know how she does it.
There are so many things to say about this novel; about oppression and subjugation, about freedom, about loneliness, about hauntings, about mothers and daughters - about love. More than I can articulate, which is why Toni Morrison did it for me. As unsettling as this was to read, I'm so glad to have read it.
Edit: back a few days later to bump this from 4 stars to 5 as I cannot stop thinking about this book jesus christ