Reviews

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

tkruger's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

potter32's review against another edition

It was just super slow and I couldn’t get into it. Just wasn’t for me, but I could totally see the appeal for some people 

vanessammc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

2.0

Didn’t finish, just wasn’t a book I wanted to pick up, although once I started reading I would enjoy it.

melody361's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

bookwormjimmy's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

The book starts off with a mystery. There's a skeleton found at the bottom of a well in 1972 Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Then we flashback to 1936 where the story actually takes place, and we're introduced to a multitude of characters that at first may seem like a rag tag collection of individuals, but eventually their stories come together into an interweaving conflagration that will eventually erupt with the truth of whose body it is that's in that well. And that's pretty much it.

True, the story is much more complicated that that, but at the end of the day you can pretty much sum up the narrative mystery pretty quickly. Instead, McBride treats the reader to some heavy characterization across hundreds of pages that is written masterfully but long-windedly. And that's where I struggled with this book. Just too much character build up without anything really happening for such a long time that I constantly found myself lost and wondering what was happening.

I can easily recognize why many would like this book, and perhaps if I read this at a different point I might have liked it more. But for all its constant meanderings and would-you-get-to-the-pointisms, this one fell flat for me. If you don't mind this style of storytelling and perhaps want to take your time with this, I can imagine this being a good read for you.

theologize's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Excrement, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Antisemitism

leannehymes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

ashp208's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

kkolstad's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.0

anniebh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5