Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

43 reviews

lavaly_1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Ableism

Moderate: Murder, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Antisemitism, and Infertility

amandalachelle's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Classism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Excrement, Hate crime, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Racism, Murder, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, and Religious bigotry

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

ljtademy3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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 am speechless. James McBride has once again found a way to invoke the deepest emotional experience for me as a reader. This book provides commentary on racism, sexism, ableism, meritocracy, and the violence required to sustain these systems in a narrative built around a small community of very real and dimensional characters. The characters are so humorous, strong-willed, and are given depth/background spanning generations prior that allows you to see each character for so much more than most books allow you to see the characters. There are several plots taking place in this book and none of them are without reason. Every detail in the story is meticulously placed to create a really touching story. I read Deacon King Kong last year and loved it to pieces. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store was a much more difficult read due to graphic content, but it is again not without reason that difficult topics are included in this story. James McBride has hands down become my favorite author and it is by a landslide. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Antisemitism, Classism, Death of parent, Ableism, Excrement, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Minor: Infertility

abicaro17's review against another edition

This book is all over the place. I was over 50% of the way through the book and I still couldn't understand the plot. All the chapters were in different characters 3rd person pov and sometimes it would start in one pov and switch to another with no warning! I'm sure the end is great and super profound or whatever but I'm not reading 350 pages of nothing for the 40 pages of conclusion that makes it make sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, Death, Bullying, Fatphobia, Violence, Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Blood, Racial slurs, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

ninjamuse's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Ableism

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Death, and Chronic illness

Minor: Death of parent and Pedophilia

kaneebli's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape, Ableism, Child death, and Antisemitism

Minor: Excrement and Death of parent

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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? No

4.0

I really enjoy James McBride's writing. I think this might be the fourth or fifth of his books that I've read. He has a way of taking topics of gravity and storytelling them with light and humor and poignancy. I feel like I can sleep better tonight for having read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Torture, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Violence, Bullying, Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Sexual violence

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