Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

32 reviews

cement_tree's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

lulu2121's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Suicide, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Police brutality, and Death of parent

savannah_c_dipasquale's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Religious bigotry, and Classism

rsk668's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, and Death of parent

regalreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

The Secret Life of Bees is a critically acclaimed intersectional feminist story set in South Carolina 1964, amidst a time of racial turmoil. Readers follow Lily, a white 14 year old girl and her African American “stand in mother” as they flee discrimination, emotional/physical abuse, and jail on a journey to learn more about the protagonist’s deceased mother. While the premise of this novel was strong, I found that Kidd relied heavily on problematic stereotypes when developing the African American characters, for example, the angry, uneducated, and emotional black woman. As a biracial person myself, this was difficult to read, especially since I the characters were described as “eccentric.”Kidd also used the n slur as a white author, and the r slur as an abled author something I heavily disagree with. Overall, these factors and the writing were what knocked the novel down to three stars, but it is a compelling and fast paced read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

booksandboba's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

isabellarob73's review

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-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? Yes

1.5

I feel that this story is very well written and I see how it is beloved by so many. At the same time I never need to read a story that focuses on black women written by a white woman. This book makes all black women mammy caricatures to the protagonist. It also seems to rely on learning that black people are as beautiful and cultured as white people as a way to stop racism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

lujntello's review

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality

smoothjazzhands's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, and Death of parent