Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Sula by Toni Morrison

28 reviews

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

While this isn’t my favorite Morrison that I’ve read, it still has everything that I’ve come to love and expect from her work. Layered, complicated characters with layered, complicated relationships with each other, and absolutely beautiful prose. I loved this exploration of girlhood, friendship, sex and sexuality, and the social pressures that bring us together or pull us apart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexism

amy_q13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Child death, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Dementia, Excrement, Grief, Infidelity, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Slavery and War

breanneporter's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, and Grief

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Grief, War, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Animal death, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Infidelity

henrib11's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Blood, Addiction, Excrement, Classism, War, Drug use, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Body shaming

lilcoppertop's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Death, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Dementia, Excrement, Addiction, Blood, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, War, Grief, and Mental illness

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Every perspective in this book flows into the next like water in a river—an unstoppable force. That being said, the one I wanted to linger with the most, the one I tried to swim upriver in, was Nel’s perspective. Maybe this is because Nel and Sula’s friendship was the most compelling part of this book. And Morrison agrees, if the final line of the book is any indication: “We was girls together.” There’s a particular kind of grief that Morrison writes about in this book that feels yawning, endless, undefinable. She manages to fit such a huge concept into so few words, I feel like I’ve been robbed of all the words that she should have needed. As I work my way through Morrison’s books, I fear I’m beginning to see a trend of being in awe of her writing, while not caring much for the plot. Two books aren’t really enough to say that definitively but I’m interested to see what I think about her other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child death, Sexism, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia

katkatniss's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

"A sleep deeper than the hospital drugs; deeper than the pits of plums, steadier than the condor's wing; more tranquil than the curve of eggs."

Finishing Sula is a mood. I have been emptied. I am dumbstruck, in awe, and lost, in the simplest and most beautiful way possible.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, Child death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Excrement, Drug use, Racism, Suicide, War, and Terminal illness

eve81's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Murder, Mental illness, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Suicide

jennswan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racism, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Drug abuse, and War