Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

7 reviews

angelofthetardis's review against another edition

This was a recommendation from a work colleague back in 2022, but it's only just reached the top of my TBR pile. We follow the four daughters of Baptist minister Nathan Price as they are uprooted from their every day existence in 1960s America and deposited in the Belgian Congo on the eve of its independence to support their father in his mission to preach the word of God. 

While I think the writing is very good, the style severely lets the story down. Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the daughters; one of whom is very young, another of whom is unable to speak and whose brain likes to process and interpret things backwards. It therefore feels like you're reading extracts from four diaries and trying to piece together the wider story from snippets of information the girls include. So as you can imagine, you don't actually get a lot of detail about the wider goings on; everything each girl says has themself at the centre of things. In some places, it almost reads like gibberish. It's clear a lot of thought has gone into the structure and the characters, but I just couldn't figure out what the story was meant to be about or why I was meant to care.

It also didn't help that none of the characters appealed to me. I got frustrated with the typical selfish teen behaviour of the eldest, the submissive mother and the idiocy and obstinacy of the father. Honestly, I think the only character that had even a modicum of appeal was Leah. 

The attitudes of the characters reflect the period setting, so there is a lot of dismissal of Congolese culture as 'pagan' or 'idolatrous' compared to the zenith that is Christianity, a strong thread of xenophobia and a fair smattering of sexism and misogyny. And yet the author has managed to illustrate how moronic these attitudes are through the complete lack of understanding Nathan has for his surroundings. This was very cleverly done, but nevertheless does make for quite uncomfortable reading in many places. 

It was certainly worth a try, but this was just too far outside my comfort zone to appeal.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Ableism, Misogyny, Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

zoebaillie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Animal death, Child death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Ableism, and Death of parent

Minor: War and Torture

Mention of child prostitution, imprisonment

silverrose187's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Ableism, Bullying, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, War, Classism, Xenophobia, Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Chronic illness, and Pregnancy

tigerlark's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Phenomenal book! I found Reverend and Mrs. Price to be much like my own parents, and reading this was very healing in a lot of ways. Great discussions of racism, colonialism, and healing from trauma, among other important topics. Kingsolver's prose is beautiful, as usual!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, War, Racism, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Child death, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

I first read this twenty years ago and it has stayed with me as a powerful story of hubris and attendant woe on a personal and global level. I seem to have forgotten the depth of characterization and I responded to a couple of the main characters with disgust. I think this is a book that all Americans should read so we learn about our secret history. Great book but hard to read in an emotional sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Slavery, Torture, Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, War, Child death, Death, Genocide, and Mental illness

uss_mary_shelley's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

I read most of this book today despite starting it in September, and I'm not sure what that means for my feelings on it. It's good and captivating but I think I've come away feeling disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Colonisation, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

sjanke2's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence