Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

140 reviews

acashton's review

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Death, Rape, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

melissaamy7's review

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

greenan26's review

emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Racism, Classism, Death, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Excrement, Pedophilia, Rape, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol

r0b3rta's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury

micklesreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

4.5

A wonderful ensemble of characters here, and the ways that some of the Jews and Black folks in Pottstown cared for one another. McBride has such a gift with place and characterization.

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Content Warnings

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

victoriastarkid's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Excrement

Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Child abuse

killeenm's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

I liked it overall. I’m not sure why some plot points existed, and I wished things had been made a bit more clear. It got REALLY dark at times in ways that I didn’t think added to the storyline.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Xenophobia

djbobthegirl's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Ableism, Antisemitism, and Sexual violence

wanderingghost12's review

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

4.0

James McBride is phenomenal at his use of irony and describing people. He creates a colorful cast of characters that are loveable, fearless, and completely human. He shows us the good, the bad, and the ugly very well and keeps us intrigued by their character development. This book was relatively slow at times, so portions were difficult to get through, but the last third of the book was great and so well-written. This book is very dark and portrays a clear and concise image of how America was like for minority groups in the 1930s. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Classism, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

ferranda's review

dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Rape, Chronic illness, Racism, Antisemitism, and Death of parent