Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

71 reviews

wenwanzhao'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Thought-provoking and empathetic.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

omligda's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative sad tense

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

4.5

This was a stunning work of literature. Truly stunning, there were moments where my jaw was on the floor because I could hardly process what I was reading. Morrison’s work is awe-inspiring, bringing out a myriad of feelings. Empathy, pity, horror, shame, trauma. It took me a month to finish these 136 pages because it was so hard to bear, and that is why I must read more books like this one. These stories aren’t impossible and they shouldn’t be unknown. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Body shaming, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Rape

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

seawarrior's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

An arresting, gut-wrenching story of the pervasive power of internalizing hatred. Morrison's skill for writing fleshed-out characters whose experiences reflect and denounce racism, classism and misogyny is awe-inspiring throughout her first novel. Her prose was lyrical, observant and stinging with relevance, which kept me glued to the pages. However, the detail used to describe sexual violence against preteen girls was so disturbing it felt unnecessary. Her inclusion of these segments started to disillusion me as they went on and worsened, but Claudia's voice in the last chapter was reinvigorating if not tragic. Claudia and Frieda are the most endearing characters throughout this story, and I doubt I will ever forget them. Their allied but secret rebellions against racism and misogyny are bathed in childlike innocence but still powerful, as we never see them internalize the hatred of their aggressors the way most of the book's other characters do. Ultimately, this is a disturbing but meaningful story, though the subject matter will make it a rough read for many.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcoholism

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

At first, I didn't get it. Then, I was starting to get it. Then, by the end, I thought I didn't get it. But apparently I got it the whole time, it's just that the time this book was written for is very different from the time of today. Things have changed a lot, but in many ways after reading this they haven't changed at all. I don't think I liked this book very much, but in some ways I did. I like Morrison's writing style and use of language. Something about it felt very familiar, very eerie, which made it unknown and familiar again. The things she wanted to say, to me, with the hindsight of 52 years in my 22 year old life, have been said again and again and I found myself asking "What was the point?" Which is never a good thing to have to ask. Not every book needs a lesson or a moral or a point. I know what the point was, I've seen it since I was as young as 3 years old, when my parents taught me black was beautiful and thus I never wished to be white, and I understood what race was, meant, and symbolized before I could write my own name down with a steady hand. I realize that the point was made 52 years ago when it was published, or 42 years ago, having been seen with the fresh eyes of a new decade, or even 32 years ago with the fresh eyes of a new generation. By the time I was born the book was probably just a memory of the shadow of an era. So now, personally, I don't like this book, but I do. I respect it. I'm sure had I been 22 when it was published in 1970 I would've loved this book. But again, things have changed and also things haven't. I see that it was important for the time, and it still kind of is, but now reading it I felt the sour feeling in my stomach I do reading and watching media from the decades that have come between then and now: it just felt like black trauma. Too much of it. I'm just tired. Been tired of it since before I was a teenager. Good book. Don't know if I would recommend it, but I certainly will reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Blood, Fatphobia, Abandonment, and Ableism

gjkennedy's review against another edition

dark 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

So incredibly difficult to read. Toni Morrison is a master of prose and laying characters uncomfortably and starkly bare. I firmly believe she is in a class all her own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Excrement

despicablecow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Incest, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Cursing, Violence, Sexism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

marthadude'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: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Mental illness and Abandonment

Minor: Excrement, Fatphobia, and Grief

Heavy warnings for incest, rape, pedophilia, and racism. Even though the book spoils this in the beginning

Pecola, an 11 year old girl, is raped and impregnated by her own father. The scene is fairly disturbing. It's not overly graphic but it is explicit and hard to read. Pecola is not only beaten by her mother because of this, but the townspeople look down on her despite being the victim. As a trauma response, she is driven to a sort of madness. The baby also doesn't make it.

. There is also a character who is a self confessed pedophile, but there are no explicit scenes between him and children.

neda6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Grief, Death, Bullying, and Abandonment

amberinbookland's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit