Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

225 reviews

tallerding's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.0

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on this book, and none of them are great. I think I just don’t jive with Morrison’s writing. I STRUGGLED halfway through Beloved before calling it quits because I was MISERABLE. This book was at least more coherent and I could *mostly* keep track of who was who, very much unlike Beloved.

Now, are the themes explored here very important, and are the events that take place absolutely vile? Yes times 100. But I found myself truly not caring. These characters did not at all feel real to me, and I couldn’t tell you one defining characteristic that makes one different from another. What happens to Pecola? Absolutely disgusting. But I didn’t care. And as a survivor of SA, that hurts me to say. But she didn’t feel real, so the act didn’t feel real, despite all the gory details.

Morrison has a way with words, she really does. She can certainly paint a picture that will stay with you for a lifetime. But the character development was so lacking that I didn’t care what happened to the characters. And I don’t have enough big brain energy for all the reading between the lines that I feel her work requires.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark sad

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery and Religious bigotry

Minor: Gun violence and Miscarriage

hngisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

emilynacey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy

14awhalen's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Racism

willschlesinger's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Child death

conspystery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

 I’m not sure what I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said, and far better-- it’s phenomenal, hands down. The Bluest Eye is the first of Toni Morrison’s work that I’ve read, and I don’t know why I waited this long to read it. The prose is absolutely masterful, ranging from breathtakingly poignant at times to almost familiar in its melancholy at others-- not to mention the small moments of quotidian beauty in between the horrific events of the novel. This book is steeped in authenticity. The settings, the depth of characters, the insights into history, the world, and human nature: Morrison brings biting authenticity to all of these in her writing, and communicates it with powerful, artful grace. I listened to the audiobook of The Bluest Eye as narrated by Morrison herself, and it added a whole new layer of that authenticity to the novel. An important book, written with heartaching prose and an overwhelming sense of truth behind its narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

fantlisasy'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

4.75

This novel is written beautifully. What happens is not only described but imbedded in poetic phrases that leave you in a state of disbelief and shock. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexism, Excrement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

grboph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

5.0

This was quite the read. It was definitely one of the most heartbreaking stories I've ever read, and the characters were fully fleshed out and even the more insignificant ones played important roles. Morrison's writing is so beautiful and engaging that despite how heavy this book is, it made me want to read more of her books as soon as I can. I would recommend this book to just about anyone out there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Hate crime, Mental illness, Slavery, and Blood