Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

39 reviews

craftyanty's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Not at all what I expected, but a beautiful book, no less.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

lexcellent'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? No

1.0

The premise was interesting and some parts were done well. However, I couldn't fully get into the book. It felt like McBride was trying to accomplish too much with this all the side plots, so quality was sacrificed at times. I also really wish there had been a warning about the pedophilia in the last part of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Pedophilia

elletrixie's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

maddiet425's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

2.5

I wanted so badly to like this book, and there were parts of it that I absolutely loved. However, there were too many characters, all with their own complex backstories for any growth or development to occur. I found that this made the story quite slow and boring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

zombiezami's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

I read McBride's memoir about himself and his Jewish mom years ago. It's wonderful to see how, in addition to research, he clearly pulled from aspects of his upbringing in crafting this book. I will say that, although I liked the connection to USAmericans being on stolen land, this would have been a stronger theme if there were any indigenous characters, which there weren't, as far as I remember.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Slavery and War

tiamia1084's review against another edition

challenging 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Excrement, and Death of parent

bcvogel90's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: Pedophilia and Murder

lindsayerin's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault

sheepnik's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

An odd book. I knew nothing about it before I bought it, and I'm not sure I know much more after reading it. So many characters, many of which only seem to appear as repetitive phrases. The really out of place rant about phones halfway through the book. 

I found the way that words in languages other than English were dealt with really odd, with the English translation in brackets immediately after the text, quite jarring and interrupted the flow.

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Content Warnings

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

amandalachelle's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism