Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

120 reviews

nicolelovesbooks's review against another edition

3.5

Is it possible to enjoy a book that totally bores you? I liked the writing at the sentence level but this book did not have nearly enough plot for me (especially the first half). The narrator does an excellent job reading all the many characters’ voices though! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

acashton's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

greenan26's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Excrement, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

victoriastarkid's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Excrement

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Religious bigotry

brujakatt's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

theologize's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Classism

stalfos's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Excrement

abigailhaagen's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

I was looking forward to this book, because I've heard a lot of good things about it and it won some awards, but it was meh. The writing was extremely longwinded, and I know the author did this for "effect" in some places, but the run-on sentences were too much for me. The pace seemed really slow to me, and I had to trudge through it. The characters were pretty good, but I only felt attached to a few of them. Also, the author's random rants of commentary on today's America seemed out of place and messed with my sense of time in the novel. 

So yeah. It wasn't a bad novel, and I know most of my qualms are subjective, but I just didn't like it.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement and Rape

burnourhistory's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

natesalsbury's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.0

I had trouble with this book. I thought it was well-written with a lot of detail. And it started strong: the first chapter begins with a flash-forward of a body being discovered, leading me to believe the mysterious murder would be central to the story, à la Where the Crawdads Sing. This was not the case- the "mystery" of the body is primarily referenced in the first chapter and the last two, with little impact on the story.

At points, there was too much detail. Introducing a new character required multiple paragraphs (or even pages) of backstory- and there were A LOT of characters. I could not keep track of all of the characters, several with primarily used nicknames; however, on occasion a real name was used and I forgot who that character was and had to go back for context clues. There were also so many points-of-view which made it hard to keep up with. I wasn't sure who the main character was supposed to be, if any.

The plot seemed very convoluted. I wasn't sure why any of these characters specific stories were told until the very end when it was explicitly laid out "This character did this, which meant this character could do this and, as a result, this happened." So it did tie together in the end, but took so long to get there.

This story primarily took place in the late 1920s with the first and last chapters taking place in 1972. At least twice - in random spots - modern day 2000s events were mentioned, specifically referring to school shootings despite almost no gun violence in the book, so I wasn't entirely sure why it was mentioned at all.

Content Warning: Explicit SA.

The first instance happened about midway through the novel and felt semi-important to the story, but was hard to read. The second instance happened near the end and did not feel important to the story; the context of the scenario made some sense, but so would other acts of violence/assault that would have been less traumatic to read.

Overall, I am glad I read this, but would not jump at the opportunity to read it again. Maybe somewhere down the road I will read it with a different perspective (and knowing what's going to happen) and find a way to appreciate it more, but that day will not come anytime soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail