Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Farven lilla by Alice Walker

499 reviews

anishaaa's profile picture

anishaaa's review against another edition

4.5
dark reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
I knew absolutely nothing about this one going in - just that it is a classic. I did not know classics could be so gay and so progressive. I'm going to be picking up more Alice Walker in the future. 

Unorganized thoughts about this book:

  • Loved watching the characters change throughout their lives and how relationships between them changed over time. My book club was at odds about Celie's decision to
    be friendly with Mister
    by the end of the book - personally I thought this was a more realistic choice and liked it, though it did make me super uncomfortable. 
  • I'm not religious. But I found this book's discussion of God very in line with my own views of the world and on beauty and spirituality - surprising to me because I usually am not big on religion or spirituality discussions. I'm glad that the version of the book I read had a Forward (or intro?) by Alice Walker that pointed to this being a book about God, as it allowed me to pay more attention to this passage. 
  • I can't stop thinking about how
    Celie
    made a pair of pants for
    Sophia
    where one leg is red and one leg is purple - I especially can't stop thinking about it with the context that pants that are split w/ two different colors had a moment in 2021. This is the worst decision in the book I hate the idea that these pants exist as an idea.
  • Other discussion from book club - apparently the adaptations of this book (even the new one?) minimize the sapphic love. I have no take on this other than, I don't understand how it's not glaringly, obviously sapphic, and am now worried about the state of reading comprehension. 
  • I started w/ the digital book and switched to audio around 50% through. The narrator was fantastic! 
  • Top 3 book club book!
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katesant's review against another edition

3.0
challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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
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clittleford3's review against another edition

3.5
challenging emotional sad
This one was an emotionally tougher read than I expected. Celie’s experiences challenged me and pushed at my preconceived notions. I love that her quiet strength is validated in the end
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serendipitous_mess's profile picture

serendipitous_mess's review against another edition

4.5
challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
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_lilireads's review against another edition

4.5
emotional reflective 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: Complicated
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naomiauld's review against another edition

5.0
adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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: Yes
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readswithstella's review against another edition

4.0
emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
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amisk23's review against another edition

5.0
emotional reflective 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: Yes
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farrington's profile picture

farrington's review against another edition

5.0
emotional reflective 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: Yes
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day_fisher's review against another edition

3.5
challenging emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
A truly honest portrayal of a woman first crying out in letters to God and then to her sister in abuse after abuse. This is a harsh book in this sense but a powerful story to be shared about sisterhood, race, sexual orientation. I can see why it is acclaimed and awarded for being a story written ahead of the time when people started to publicly care for these stories. It's intersectional before that became a buzzword. Does it get points for the vibes? Not really. Did I sometimes find the writing dull or the pace too slow for my preference? Yes. But it was good overall because of the topics and history it portrays. 3.5 ⭐
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