Reviews with content warning for Murder - Passing

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Passing by Nella Larsen

32 reviews

caitlin_bookchats's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

Really solid, interesting classic. The themes were new to me but I wish this had been taught in my AP English Lit class instead of The Awakening (in regards to the ways it discusses the pressures of class and expectations and what women might sacrifice to circumvent them. But also I just hated The Awakening

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jessiebertram's review against another edition

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reflective

3.5

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f18's review

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dark reflective 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

4.0

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kayladaila's review

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dark informative 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

4.0

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elthechameleon's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-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? Yes

I feel uncomfortable rating classics that I think are important to read to understand historical issues. As such, I've left this blank. I highly recommend the audiobook on Spotify. Bahni Turpin is my favorite narrator.

If you take this book at its word, I can see several issues with the plot. Multiple times throughout the book, Irene Redfield calls Clare Kendry decorative and shallow, seeming to question the other's Blackness. This book does an excellent job in pointing out colorism and the idea of race as a social construct. I prefer to think of this book as a psychological interpretation, with Irene and Clare representing the same woman split into two identities through the traumatic experience of passing. In this interpretation, Irene's murder of Clare is not done out of envy but out of exhaustion, an unwillingness to keep passing when it takes so much out of her. It also is done out of envy, wondering if one is more attractive when perceived as white. As in The Personal Librarian (2021), this reading allows the reader to understand the cost of passing and the split identity that results.

This book stays with you after finishing it. I'm looking forward to seeing what the recent Netflix adaptation did with it.

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kazzhiggs's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

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claire_macleod2345's review against another edition

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challenging reflective 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

3.0

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helsbelle's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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silver_valkyrie_reads's review

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dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Well, that happened.

It's a good thing I went into this book mostly interested in historical context and experiences around 'passing', because that was definitely the most interesting part of the story. It wasn't terrible otherwise, but while the characters were mostly sympathetic, I wouldn't call any of them likeable, and I disliked the ending.

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