Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

39 reviews

yulecogs's review against another edition

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? No

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

mysteryspouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical content, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility and Slavery

abicaro17's review against another edition

This book is all over the place. I was over 50% of the way through the book and I still couldn't understand the plot. All the chapters were in different characters 3rd person pov and sometimes it would start in one pov and switch to another with no warning! I'm sure the end is great and super profound or whatever but I'm not reading 350 pages of nothing for the 40 pages of conclusion that makes it make sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.0

I really enjoy James McBride's writing. I think this might be the fourth or fifth of his books that I've read. He has a way of taking topics of gravity and storytelling them with light and humor and poignancy. I feel like I can sleep better tonight for having read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lyndsay_bibliophile's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store" is a unique story, highlighting the power of community and the strength of the human spirit. Its unconventional storytelling and character building with its satisfying ending was a joy to experience. This is a book for those who appreciate slow-burning character studies, intricate narratives, and the unique beauty of a story that defies traditional structure.

What sets this book apart is its patient, layered, non-linear approach to character development. McBride does a glorious job of weaving individual tales into a larger community story in a way that was deeply satisfying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, and Classism

alichan459's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Excrement

heremireadz's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism

knkoch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

This was quite an astounding, complex, layered, clockwork mechanism of a book. Like in Deacon King Kong, McBride creates a huge and intricate community. In 1930s Pottstown, PA, the black residents are segregated onto Chicken Hill and neglected by city leaders and infrastructure; white protestants cling to power, privilege, and the false Mayflower-tinged history they believe justifies it; and the Jewish community, made up of both long-established families and recent immigrants, is caught in the middle of the town's hierarchy. Of course, when there's racial hierarchy, the middle is not so different from the bottom, and there are untold ways to experience cruelty and discrimination. 

There are lots of mysteries in the plot, and I don't think I understood all of them, but the story didn't suffer for it. It's hard, and there's a lot of ugliness, individual and societal, exposed. But there's kindness, triumph, and joy, too. Truly everything between heaven and earth is present in these human beings, and in us, too. The world we inhabit can be both deeply broken and full of wonder at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Excrement

Moderate: Rape

books_brews_and_booze's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

James McBride does it again. He's crafted a compelling, well-written, powerful story with special attention paid to the setting, to the characters, to humanity.

One of the greatest storytellers of this time, in my humble opinion. I'd love to see school curriculums include his books in their lists, if they aren't already doing so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Minor: Excrement and Abandonment

meganpbell's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

While there’s much to love about this book—its strong sense of place, its vast, lovable, diverse, and very human cast of characters, and its central message about community amid difference—religion, race, ability, class—I found it too structurally scattered to enjoy uninterruptedly and the author’s descriptions of women’s bodies (the number of times boobs and angelic singing occur smh) distracting to put it lightly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Infertility, Medical content, and Death of parent