Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

62 reviews

tannisahermansyah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

I absolutely loved this. I found the subject matter challenging but very reflective. I also found the prose a little challenging at times but I will get better at comprehension. It really makes you think about what beauty means and how you use it to construct your identity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

sammyisuncomfy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

An absolutely amazing novel. An in-depth exploration of the intersection of racism, misogyny, and our society's attitudes towards children, all wrapped intimately with the idea of beauty. 

Morrison's narration is laced with such a wonderful understanding of life, death, and childhood---her ability to make the reader feel nostalgia, helplessness, reverence, disgust, and anger is unbelievable. No scene is anything short of vivid; no character feels anything short of alive. 

On top of that, it's a masterclass in non-linear story arrangement, and perfectly paced all the way through.  

So good!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Racism, and Racial slurs

stormymonday's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Incest, and Misogyny

missbrookss's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence

might_be_may's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Incest, and Sexual assault

rlgreen91's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

What a sad, sad book. And to be clear, the content is sad - the book itself is well-written. For me reading Toni Morrison feels like a good hug from a close friend or relative you haven't seen in a while.  There's just something about the way she writes that just seems to envelope you.  The sticking point is what she's writing about - usually something brutal, hard to swallow, and designed to make you think.

The Bluest Eye certainly satisfies all of these criteria.  It's hard to pick one thing to focus on, but I'll go with a question I saw in my online book club discussion.  Someone asked how the freedom of one character, Cholly, compared to the freedom of elderly Black women as described in an earlier passage.  In my opinion, Cholly's freedom is freedom from other people, from community and the benefits and responsibilities that come from living in community with other people. He still has to conform to social norms, i.e. behave himself, if he doesn't want to suffer too many bad consequences.  But Cholly doesn't have any bonds to others that bind him and impact how he lives his life.  For the elderly Black women, freedom is more about freedom from societal expectations. They still live in community with other people, and have benefits and responsibilities that come with that and that shapes how they live their lives.  But they no longer feel as pressured to conform to social norms, especially since they're less likely to suffer bad consequences as a result.

This is where Morrison makes you think - what does it mean to be part of a community and to be in community with others?  How is this distinct from living among people and in a community?  One of the key themes of the TV show "The Good Place" was T.M. Scanlon's question of "What do we owe to each other?"  It's easy to jump from there to the question of "What happens when we decide we don't owe each other anything?"  But Morrison's depiction of Cholly makes you think - what happens when we feel like we do owe some people something, but there is no one left for you to owe?

It's a sad book, but short, which is why I sailed through it, even if my heart was breaking the whole while.  I'm not sure what I'll pick up next but it'll be something given that reading is my latest activity of choice to disconnect from work.  5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Incest

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Racial slurs

Minor: Miscarriage and Misogyny

rsngphoenix's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Addiction, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, and Incest

booksthoughtsandtea's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

I feel that it would be inappropriate for me to rate this below 5 stars. Content/trigger warning for racism, depression, anxiety, trauma, rape, murder, neglect, abanding children, incest, sexual assault, pedofillia, religious trauma, 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Racism, Medical trauma, Medical content, Infidelity, Infertility, Incest, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Bullying, Blood, Abandonment, Ableism, Vomit, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

silvergiraffe17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Incest

annibear_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Alcohol, Infertility, Murder, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault