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a1exander's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Excrement, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
penofpossibilities's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Slavery and Religious bigotry
Minor: Gun violence and Miscarriage
emilynacey's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy
grboph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Hate crime, Mental illness, Slavery, and Blood
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Foreward of the book sets the tone by starting with the following, "There can't be anyone, I am sure, who doesn't know what it feels like to be disliked, even rejected, momentarily or for sustained periods of time. Perhaps the feeling is merely indifference, mild annoyance, but it may also be hurt. It may even be that some of us know what it is like to be actually hated - hated for things we have no control over and cannot change."
The primary individual in the story, the one with a common thread throughout, is eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove. She's a demure child already broken down by a harsh life of indifferent parents and the taunts of too many bullies, sometimes school children and sometimes family. The most common and reliable narrator in the book is eight-year-old Claudia MacTeer. She and her twelve-year-old sister, Frieda, are as true of friends to Pecola as anyone in her life will be. The story is set in a time right after the Great Depression, as the country is recovering. Claudia shares how her and Frieda's life is comfortable, and they live in a sometimes harsh, but happy and stable home. One day Pecola enters their life and from this point the reader learns about other characters with Claudia as the narrator or via third person narrative with inset narratives, resulting in differing people's experiences at differing points in time. These inset first person narratives give the reader more of the backstory, or formative years, for various characters in the story. I thought this was a great way to create an immersive experience for the reader.
This book deals with many heavy subjects, and chief among them is how young Pecola was dealt a very bad hand in life and ended up accepting as truth that her life was of little value because of the way she was talked to, talked about, treated, and mistreated. Pecola's idea of a perfect life was associated with whiteness and having blue eyes, so maybe if she had blue eyes, she could escape her painful life.
This book really feels like it's a story you're hearing from some intelligent but cautious children living in a complex world where they understand a lot more than you want to believe children that age should know. They're self-sufficient because they have to be and, in many ways, this makes them able to survive the hazards and ugly truth that comes into their lives. While there are really rough edges to this story, the resilience of child narrator Claudia helps make it easier to digest when some characters in the book do not get a happy ending.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Classism
jessthanthree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Infidelity, and Fire/Fire injury
rsngphoenix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
booksthoughtsandtea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
annibear_bookworm's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
tabear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, and Vomit
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Miscarriage