Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

47 reviews

silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

 

Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love of a free man is never safe. There is no gift for the beloved. The lover alone possesses his gift of love. The loved one is shorn, neutralized, frozen in the glare of the lover’s inward eye.

I think the quote above speaks for itself. There is no wonder that Toni Morrison is so beloved amongst both book readers and those who do not tend to read quite as often. This book is so moving, striking and shocking. Being Morrison's debut novel, I get the sense that she has not yet come into herself as a writer, but the writing is gorgeous nonetheless and accomplishes exactly what the author sets off to achieve from the start (according to the author's note). For the time in which it is written, this book and its narrative are exceptionally innovative, the language is exciting and memorable, and the characters are multidimensional and complex.

Overall, I am disappointed that I did not read this sooner. Morrison is an absolute treasure! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Racism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Addiction, Mental illness, Classism, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Child abuse, Bullying, Misogyny, Incest, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, and Hate crime

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Incest, Excrement, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

zsyh's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Violence, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

joga's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

Minor: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

jana_abw'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? It's complicated

4.5

4.5
Such a sad story written so beautifully. 
I’ve never read a book with such poetic sentences. 

This book did feel a little disjointed at times but I think on a re-read would make much more sense. 

#2 book club read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Classism, Racism, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Incest, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Abandonment

cheuksin's review against another edition

5.0

This is by no means a light read.
Some parts invoked a similar  level of discomfort as when I read Lolita
Other parts more like the colour purple

Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love of a free man is never safe. There is no gift for the beloved. The lover alone possesses his gift of love. The loved one is shorn, neutralized, frozen in the glare of the lover’s inward eye.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexism and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death, Infidelity, and Death of parent

lockg6704's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

As always incredible writing and incredibly impactful and challenging 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

gellyreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

I feel like an asshole as I say this. I suppose I am. I remember reading Morrison before in college and loving and appreciating her. I just could not with this book. I really do not enjoy novels that are deliberately hard to read. (I only understood Claudia's POV.)

I also just really can't be okay with the idea, even if it's a child's, that a father raping his daughter is okay because he loved her.

Yeah, no. I guess I don't get it, and I should have someone explain this one to me. But I don't know that I want to try to read this one again and put in that effort. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Pedophilia, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, Incest, and Bullying

kvjrist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

“All of our waste which we dumped on her and which she absorbed. And all of us——all who knew her——felt so wholesome after we cleaned ourselves on her. We were so beautiful when we stood astride her ugliness. Her simplicity decorated us, her guilt sanctified is, her pain made us glow with health, her awkwardness made us think we had a sense of humor. Her inarticulateness made us believe we were eloquent. Her poverty kept us generous. Even her waking dreams we used——to silence our own nightmares. And she let us, thereby deserved our contempt. We honed our egos on her, padded our characters with her frailty, and yawned in the fantasy of our strength.” pg. 205


Emotional damage.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

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: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Racism, Incest, and Pedophilia

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

Minor: Child death