Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

205 reviews

kellyofcali's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I didn't know what to expect from this book and I loved the ways in which it surprised me, weaving together different cultures, making side characters loveable in their moments, and also sometimes being sharply awful. I did at times get a bit confuse by the interwoven plots and personalities, and a little distracted during certain more philosophical moments, but overall a super unique and worthwhile read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

sundayfever's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

This book radicalized me. Really thoughtful and nuanced story of the history of immigration, disability and race. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Murder

Minor: Infertility and Death of parent

mrsm_lovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Honestly, this was a hard read. I heard nothing but great reviews, but it so such a slow build and there were multiple plot lines happening all at once. It felt hard to keep track of things and it made it hard to get invested. I also felt the main premise got lost in the story and wasn't sure where everything was leading to. I'm glad I finished this book, though it is not one I'd recommend myself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

tiredfangirl's review against another edition

medium-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

2.5

When I started this book, it was feeling like a solid three star read. It was digestible, if definitely written in the literary fiction style.

The first read flag was the amount it explained. As a Jewish person, it’s written with a very familiar storytelling style; however, the amount of explanation made it clear very quickly that this book wasn’t really written for Jews. 

Then it used sexual assault as a plot device. And I was ready to let it go as something that is frustrating but unfortunately par for the course in literary fiction. And then it did it AGAIN. 

And then it resolved the initial mystery in a way so irrelevant to 90% of the rest of the book that I would have DNFed if I wasn’t 30 pages from the end already. 

If this had stayed a series of vignettes about people dealing with oppression in different ways and navigating the similarities/differences in the way they are marginalized, I would have been so on board. Honestly, it was only when it decided to have a plot that I started to hate it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma

mango_fanta's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness and Death

cmah's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

3.0

Don’t read this for the “mystery”

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse and Physical abuse

rrubin97's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

It was so convoluted I just got confused. The timeline skipped around. He would meander into other characters who I couldn’t place. He used a characters death to rant about phones in 1930s Pennsylvania which made no sense 
I did like the main characters. But the main mystery wasn’t much and it was hard to follow
It was well written though. Good language 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

ceejeffe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I wasn’t expecting this to be a mystery but BOY IT WAS! This was packed full of intrigue, a little comedy in the absurdity of some characters, and terror but oh so heartfelt! I am still thinking about some of the characters and felt sucked into this story and time period (in the absolute best way). What a stunning story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

zozo_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

very heavy, sad, scary, and hopeful. made me cry multiple times

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization

kt_apple's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault