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bookish_bry's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.75
This book is beautiful. There are so many fantastic quotes I ended up highlighting and I imagine I'll find more when I read it again. It's very good, but it is a slow read. It's not just getting the slow tag because its <500 words (like some get). It is a slow story and is more of an extended metaphor in most places than a story. Still, it was a fantastic book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Death, Animal death, Grief, and Misogyny
a_kt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
Barbara Kingsolver is truly a one of a kind author. Her voice and presence is so unique and striking that I felt this book come to life as I was reading it. This was really one of the only times I can confidently say that a book "transported me" and it was a reading experience unlike any other. The whole conceit of Poisonwood Bible is to be a stranger in an unknown place. The story is about how for some places, no matter how hard to try to understand the land, its people, its life, its history- the more you are changed by it, even if you never end up fully understanding it the way you meant to. The Price family became as real to me as some distant relatives. I felt like I had met all of these people at one point or another in my life. It probably doesn't help that I grew up in the South, but even beyond that- by Kingsolver's writing I knew them. I knew their fragile emotional states, I knew their secrets, their inner thoughts, and watched them change and be changed, gradually, over decades. Reading this book is like watching the lives of people you get to know very well play out in real time. Sometimes the words on the pages became so realistic I wanted to scream at Nathan Price for his unwillingness to try and understand his surroundings in favor of breaking them down all together; I wanted to extend my hand to Adah and help her when no one else in her family would; I wanted to sit down with Rachel and try to make her understand the nuances of civilization. But of course I couldn't effect these characters' lives anymore than most people can effect anyone's lives. At the end of the day, we all make our choices, we walk our paths, and we must either stand still and drown in the mud of our regrets or trudge forward through it. That's what this book and all of its heartbreaking beauty teaches us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, War, and Colonisation
sare1125's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Grief, and Religious bigotry
fpcat99's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Sexism, Toxic relationship, War, Animal death, Death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Vomit
bmpicc's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.0
This was my 3rd book by Kingsolver. It took me longer than expected, but I'm glad I didn't rush and risk missing something. Why then 3 stars? Simple. I enjoyed it, but 546 pages still seemed like a bit much. It is an interesting character study and I think whether you are religious or not, there is (or could be) a takeaway for each reader.
"As long as I kept moving, my grief streamed out behind me like a swimmer's long hair in water. I knew the weight was there but it didn't touch me."
"There are Christians and then there are Christian."
"The power is in the balance: we are our injuries, as much as we are our successes."
"As long as I kept moving, my grief streamed out behind me like a swimmer's long hair in water. I knew the weight was there but it didn't touch me."
"There are Christians and then there are Christian."
"The power is in the balance: we are our injuries, as much as we are our successes."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Racism, Violence, Child death, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Slavery, War, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Religious bigotry, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Bullying
amsswim's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
I think this is going in not only 5 star category, but favorites and best books I've read categories. Not only was the story good, but the writing kept me engaged and seeking more the whole time. This author had such beautiful and realistic ways of making these characters come to life, as well as tie in real world implications and reflections.
You follow 4 daughters, their Mother, and Baptist Pastor Father deep into the Congo on their Fathers' mission to convert the people living there to Western Christianity. While the family goes through culture shock regarding that and their new realities, the country is self is trying to shed itself of Belgian colonialism. Despite it taking place in the 1960s, the story and the real world events occuring now still echo the exact same. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a more modern classic.
My favorite quote: "I found ... I had now wings ... I had lost my wings. Don't ask me how I gained them back, the story is too unbearable. I believed too long in false reassurances; believing as we all want to, when men speak of the national interests that it is also ours. In the end, my lot was cast with The Congo. Poor Congo; barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the kingdom"
You follow 4 daughters, their Mother, and Baptist Pastor Father deep into the Congo on their Fathers' mission to convert the people living there to Western Christianity. While the family goes through culture shock regarding that and their new realities, the country is self is trying to shed itself of Belgian colonialism. Despite it taking place in the 1960s, the story and the real world events occuring now still echo the exact same. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a more modern classic.
My favorite quote: "I found ... I had now wings ... I had lost my wings. Don't ask me how I gained them back, the story is too unbearable. I believed too long in false reassurances; believing as we all want to, when men speak of the national interests that it is also ours. In the end, my lot was cast with The Congo. Poor Congo; barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the kingdom"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Racism, Misogyny, Animal death, Colonisation, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Genocide, and Medical content
sskinner155's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A reflective story about an American family on a missionary trip to Congo during the 1950 and there time their.
I liked the structure of this story and found each character pov interesting and distinct and the setting being the Congo before, during and after early independence to be intriguing. How each character reacted to not just their own family trauma and the guilt or lack there of for their country’s involvement in the downfall of Congolese independence.
I liked the structure of this story and found each character pov interesting and distinct and the setting being the Congo before, during and after early independence to be intriguing. How each character reacted to not just their own family trauma and the guilt or lack there of for their country’s involvement in the downfall of Congolese independence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Domestic abuse, Child death, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Animal death
whityreading's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
lovosii's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have read this book about 3 times now at different stages of my life and have come out of each reading with a new appreciation of this book. Highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Colonisation, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Addiction, Child abuse, and Religious bigotry
bookswithcuppatea's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
The five narrators have such different voices, such different perspectives on their lives in Africa as outsiders. Kingsolver has woven an extraordinary tale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Death, Sexism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts