Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

63 reviews

chelseakado's review against another edition

reflective 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, and Xenophobia

mysteryspouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Ableism, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Body horror, Sexism, Violence, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Confinement, Rape, Colonisation, Death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Cursing, Sexual violence, Medical content, Racism, Xenophobia, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Grief, Excrement, Mental illness, Police brutality, Death of parent, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility and Slavery

corriejn's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement

jillaay_h's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Ableism, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Medical content, Antisemitism, Classism, Death, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, and Violence

pbruce593's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Violence, Classism, Antisemitism, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Death, Murder, Terminal illness, Racism, Racial slurs, and Pedophilia

mezzythedragon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The ending is why I give this book 4 stars. 

I usually shy away from literary fiction because having read so much of them in school, they tend to be on the pessimistic side, along with some highfalutin commentary on the meaning of life or something to that effect. While there is commentary on race and disability here (rightfully so), I like the ending.  Goes to show the power of community. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Racial slurs

lmayfieldx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

“it was a future they couldn’t quite see, where the richness of all they had brought to the great land of promise would one day be zapped into nothing, the glorious tapestry of their history boiled down to a series of ten second tv commercials, empty holidays, and sports games filled with the patriotic fluff of red, white, and blue, the celebrants cheering the accompanying dazzle without any idea of the horrible struggles and proud pasts of their forebears who had made their lives so easy”

tw: racism, bigotry, child abuse, sa, death, past trauma

🤎 sense of community

🤎 deaf representation

🤎 disabled representation

🤎 found family

🤎 small town

🤎 mystery

🤎 past & current trauma

chicken hill is a town made up of many different people. clear barriers divide the people of chicken town. in 1972, a body is found under a well in pottstown, pennsylvania. nobody knows who it is or what happened to them. as we continue to learn about the groups of people in chicken town, we learn the true story of what happened. 

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this book started off kinda slow & honestly even at 40% in the book, i never would’ve guessed that this book was going to be a 5 star. i started this book weeks ago and finished the last 60%, yes you read that correctly SIXTY PERCENT, in one night 

the beginning of the book is a bit slow. it focuses mostly on getting to know all of the characters (there are a lot) & developing their individual stories, which all intertwine in some way 

later in the story, it makes sense why the first part is so heavily character focused. their stories start to blend & you see the bigger picture begin to unfold, so i’m very grateful that the book was written this way 

dodo, nate, and chona are my favorite characters. dodo never saw being deaf as a disadvantage & continued living his life like normal. nate was extremely misunderstood.  regardless of the different treatment that he received, he continued to stand up for what was right & care for people. chona was a force to be reckoned with. although she was disabled, she exhibited incredible strength, kindness, and selflessness 

i enjoyed this book so much. i definitely plan to check out some of james mcbride’s other books

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Antisemitism, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Death of parent

jennaviolet's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Murder, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Excrement, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Rape, and Violence

gmrickel's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.5

2.5 stars for enjoyment. I am very surprised how much I didn't enjoy reading this book! I love a family saga and Booklist's review described this as a "neighborhood saga." I often felt like I was just getting interested in a set of characters and then it would shift to another set. At some point someone described this as a mystery and I disagree with that assessment. Yes, there are certain suspenseful plot points, but the mystery doesn't drive the story. The leisurely pace grated and I wish there had been more women characters. All of the above is completely my preference based on the types of stories I enjoy reading and isn't a comment on McBride storytelling skill (which is immense). From the professional reviews, I was expecting the racism, anti-Semitism, and ableism, but none of them mentioned the sexual violence (rape and assault). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Ableism, Racism, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

ggartel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Racism, Racial slurs, and Antisemitism