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kathischm's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
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
4.5
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
stfrancisjude's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
beautiful descriptions of the city, and parties in the city. touching explorations of character and relationships, and the complexity of it all. some denser, less interesting sections but overall i got quite a lot out of it.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage
mysimas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Couldn’t finish the book on my first try; I just wasn’t in the mood for something as depressing.
It’s a beauty, though, and I’m glad to have come back. I’m not quite sure what to make of her yet — it unsettles me that she almost makes me forgive characters the unforgiveable. But maybe that’s the point, maybe people do bad things because they’re pushed to them by their circumstances and it takes a lot of work and willpower on their part not to give in — and sometimes they slip, and other times they don’t, and you can feel for them or disapprove of their shortcomings but once you try on their shoes, even if just for a moment, you can’t really go back.
It’s a beauty, though, and I’m glad to have come back. I’m not quite sure what to make of her yet — it unsettles me that she almost makes me forgive characters the unforgiveable. But maybe that’s the point, maybe people do bad things because they’re pushed to them by their circumstances and it takes a lot of work and willpower on their part not to give in — and sometimes they slip, and other times they don’t, and you can feel for them or disapprove of their shortcomings but once you try on their shoes, even if just for a moment, you can’t really go back.
I was so sure it would happen. That the past was an abused record with no choice but to repeat itself at the crack and no power on earth could lift the arm that held the needle. I was so sure, and they danced and walked all over me. Busy, they were, busy being original, complicated, changeable—human, I guess you’d say, while I was the predictable one, confused in my solitude into arrogance, thinking my space, my view was the only one that was or that mattered.
I still don’t know who, or what, the narrator is. I think Morrison tells us right at the end, but I’m still not sure.
The only thing I do know for certain is that there’s a lot of good going on among the grim. It’s no coincidence the story, chronologically, starts in the autumn and ends in the spring. It’s terrible in many parts but also, strangely, cleansing, like cleaning a wound of pus. And screwed up as the relationships in this book are, there are also heartfelt scenes that would’ve shone in a good romance book.
Recommended.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Suicide
I’m not sure how old Dorcas was when she started her relationship with Joe — I think she was 18. Technically, their relationship wasn’t one of a minor and an adult then; but it sure read like one. It was her first relationship and Joe was 50 for crying out loud.
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