Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

76 reviews

bennybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Even though it’s nonlinear storytelling was not what I was expecting, the content was just too good to be mad at it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, and Abandonment

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

estanis's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Classism

narbine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Slavery, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

5.0

I feel like any words I could write about any Toni Morrison book could never do her work justice. 

This book was not what I was fully expecting, and I think this made me appreciate it more. Told from multiple points of view and through a seasonal perspective of the events Pecola ensures, it details the complexity of the ways in which beauty, culture, poverty, colourism and sexism intertwine. 

I think the things that have completely astounded me about this novel is its purpose and its language. What I love about this, is that Morrison tells the story in a structured way, allowing us to understand the psychological motivations and histories of the characters. She shows us that the characters should not be excused for their behaviour, but simply showing us what made the characters the way that they are. In her forward and afterword, Morrison mentions how she wanted to fragment the chapters into different perspectives, seasons etc. and allow the reader to piece the story together. Whilst she looks in retrospect and felt this didn't work for the novel, I think it works well and made the novel effective. 

This novel is short but it is packed with so much heavy content. It is beautifully written - each sentence flows into one another. I don't think I have read lyrical writing quite like this. There is a lot that is packed into its 212 pages, but I appreciated every page and the story and messages told through her work. I am highly anticipated her other novels and am eager to get into them.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Excrement, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

lizziaha's review against another edition

4.25

The language in this book is so wonderful. Each word tumbles into the next—a pace that I occasionally wanted to slam the brakes on due to the perverse and horrific things the words depicted. But the words tumbled on, slipping and sliding and settling in my brain. It’s odd, because they seemed comfortable at first, but quickly became restless as Morrison’s words stayed in my brain long after I’d put down the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Abandonment

vanesst's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

aleksanski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

esther_5's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, and Abandonment

gkgkgk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Alcohol