Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

71 reviews

risemini's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Racism

jana_abw's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

4.5
Such a sad story written so beautifully. 
I’ve never read a book with such poetic sentences. 

This book did feel a little disjointed at times but I think on a re-read would make much more sense. 

#2 book club read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Classism, Racism, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Incest, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Abandonment

caramelcaylee's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Death, Alcoholism, Grief, Physical abuse, Animal death, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Addiction, Incest, Domestic abuse, Racism, Cursing, and Emotional abuse

jocelyn_t's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Absolutely love the premise of this book. Especially reading from the perspective of a poc woman it’s easy to spot the similarities that seem to be universal for people of colour. However, a black womans identity being represented through the characters AND the author allowed me to gain access to a new perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Body shaming, Grief, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Abandonment and Religious bigotry

darla78's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Pedophilia, and Abandonment

ldpaige's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I hate that I didn't completely love this like everyone else did. After looking at various blogposts and book club breakdowns, I was able to better understand what I just heard over a course of a few days. With a better understanding, I was able to appreciate this disturbing read. 

Morrison tends to lean to the macabre and the countercultural, which is normally for me. This just didn't translate the way I would have liked for it to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Mental illness, Abandonment, Rape, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Incest

charisw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Rape, Incest, Pregnancy, and Sexism

lisesenb's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad

• 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

4.75

Challenging but important

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Body shaming, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Incest, Classism, Mental illness, Colonisation, Excrement, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Death, and Pregnancy

seullywillikers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

 Such beautiful language to express such horrific things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

lindseyas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

4.0

If there's someone out there that has a solid grasp on human nature, its got to be Toni Morrison. What a craftswoman when it comes to writing her characters to be so deep, with so many flaws and personal pitfalls that they seem to overflow. She just has this type of hold over what it means to be human that you tend to forget you aren't reading nonfiction. This novel, her first (which is so insane to me), recalls the story of a small town where all but hell breaks loose, from family dilapidation to the spread of casual — and violent — racism. The stars of the novel, however, are the young Black girls that are growing up in this environment, overwhelmed with society's standards and plans for them. The concept of beauty and innocence is a White one in this novel, where the blue eyes are a desirable attribute, because it means safety from all harm, an escape from the torment of being misunderstood and unseen. A simple symbol for race and gender, this book tells a nauseating story of when innocence is taken advantage of and girls are ignored for what they are. My only gripe was the constantly switching perspectives with no clear distinctions in speaker, sort of made it hard to read. Other than that, another massive success.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Incest