Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

54 reviews

asiminam's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Animal death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Bullying

jlye's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This book is hard for me to rate. On one hand, I love Toni Morrison’s writing. It’s beautiful and poetic. I felt a connection to the Pecola’s longing for blue eyes, because I wished for the same when I was a child. The inferiority complex resulting from tying beauty to western standards - blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin - resonated with me and my own struggles with self-esteem growing up in a white-dominated society. However, I cannot look past the characterization of Soaphead Church,

particularly the implication that his pedophilia was the result of being a closeted homosexual.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Racism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Incest, and Homophobia

charisw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Rape, Incest, Pregnancy, and Sexism

skylerreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

It is so hard to describe and review this book because it is more than just a story about a little girl facing racism in America, it is about girlhood as a whole experience, poverty, inherited misogyny, and the accepting of one’s inevitable fate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Body shaming, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia

lisesenb's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad

• 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

Challenging but important

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Body shaming, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Incest, Classism, Mental illness, Colonisation, Excrement, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Death, and Pregnancy

bearsiies's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Incest, Rape, Torture, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Fatphobia, Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, and Toxic relationship

mikarala's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

Well I'm glad I read it, but I can't say I enjoyed the experience. Morrison's prose is incredibly poignant and poetic, however this novel feels more like a series of vignettes than a true narrative, and the characters feel more like symbols than real people. Also, it served a purpose in the story, but the way bodily functions and sexual urges were described practically had me retching in real life. On one hand, that's really a credit to Morrison's writing that she was able to affect such a physical response, but also, it really contributed to how unpleasant parts of this novel were to read.

But again, that's kind of the point. This isn't supposed to be an easy read. It's horrifying, but it's meant to be because Morrison wants to depict how intergenerational trauma and internalized racism have affected the Black community. So for that reason, I found this hard to rate. In terms of getting its message across, I give this book 5 stars. But I just hated this experience of reading this so much (seriously, watch out for all the content warnings) that I can't really rate it higher.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Incest, Abandonment, Animal death, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Suicide and Excrement

booknerd_therapist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was recently a subject of controversy (read: banned), so the local book store owner held a book club for it and ordered a bunch of copies. I didn't make it to the club but bought it anyway.

I can see why white people are so disturbed by it. *I* am disturbed by it and I was prepared (somewhat) for controversial issues.

When I sit with and look past my discomfort.... what is underneath that is wonderment that white children are so shielded from the horrors black children are exposed to regularly.* I can see why white parents are so reactive.... if their white children had any idea what their black friends, teammates, frenemies, etc had to live with, it would shatter everything their mostly-white schools, churches, sports teams, etc were trying to teach them about the world and their place in it.

I do recommend this to my white friends because I believe it is equally valuable to any non-fiction antiracist book when it comes to challenging racism. And it is a beautiful work on its own. Just be prepared to sit with your discomfort.

*One of the recurring themes in the book is sexual abuse. I feel the need to give a disclaimer that sexual abuse is absolutely not a racial issue, but rather an issue children in general are exposed to. Part of the author's overall goal is to speak to the lives of children and their inherent vulnerability.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Incest, Rape, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Racial slurs, Mental illness, Abandonment, Addiction, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death

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

jaiari12's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Mental illness