Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

23 reviews

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

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

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

iheartapolloxxi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Classism, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, and Incest

seanamcphie's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Excrement, Bullying, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Classism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual assault

shoshin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

I read this book for two reading challenges: one covering women who have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, the other for reading banned books.

I can see why this book has been banned, and while I'm very much against banning books, this one would need careful and thoughtful discussion with teens who read it. I was especially disturbed by

the sympathetic way Morrison portrayed Charlie, who raped and impregnated his 11-year-old daughter and was portrayed a merely being swept up in the moment because his daughter reminded him of his wife when they first met

. On the whole, I wasn't all that impressed with the book. Morrison has an afterword in which she expresses her own dissatisfaction with how it was received vs what her goals were in writing it. Knowing her goals, I see what she was trying to do, but ultimately agree with her later-in-life assessment that she missed the mark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Racism, Incest, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Bullying, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage and Child death

maddie_1999's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Violence, Rape, and Physical abuse

booksthoughtsandtea's review against another edition

reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

I feel that it would be inappropriate for me to rate this below 5 stars. Content/trigger warning for racism, depression, anxiety, trauma, rape, murder, neglect, abanding children, incest, sexual assault, pedofillia, religious trauma, 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Racism, Medical trauma, Medical content, Infidelity, Infertility, Incest, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Bullying, Blood, Abandonment, Ableism, Vomit, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

silvergiraffe17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Incest

michaelion'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

3.5

At first, I didn't get it. Then, I was starting to get it. Then, by the end, I thought I didn't get it. But apparently I got it the whole time, it's just that the time this book was written for is very different from the time of today. Things have changed a lot, but in many ways after reading this they haven't changed at all. I don't think I liked this book very much, but in some ways I did. I like Morrison's writing style and use of language. Something about it felt very familiar, very eerie, which made it unknown and familiar again. The things she wanted to say, to me, with the hindsight of 52 years in my 22 year old life, have been said again and again and I found myself asking "What was the point?" Which is never a good thing to have to ask. Not every book needs a lesson or a moral or a point. I know what the point was, I've seen it since I was as young as 3 years old, when my parents taught me black was beautiful and thus I never wished to be white, and I understood what race was, meant, and symbolized before I could write my own name down with a steady hand. I realize that the point was made 52 years ago when it was published, or 42 years ago, having been seen with the fresh eyes of a new decade, or even 32 years ago with the fresh eyes of a new generation. By the time I was born the book was probably just a memory of the shadow of an era. So now, personally, I don't like this book, but I do. I respect it. I'm sure had I been 22 when it was published in 1970 I would've loved this book. But again, things have changed and also things haven't. I see that it was important for the time, and it still kind of is, but now reading it I felt the sour feeling in my stomach I do reading and watching media from the decades that have come between then and now: it just felt like black trauma. Too much of it. I'm just tired. Been tired of it since before I was a teenager. Good book. Don't know if I would recommend it, but I certainly will reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Blood, Fatphobia, Abandonment, and Ableism

purple_converse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Violence

amberinbookland's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit