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Reviews tagging 'Death'

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

41 reviews

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

RTC: review to come (just learned this acronym!)

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dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I think I was twelve or thirteen the first time I read this book. Reading it again as an adult was pretty eye-opening to all the things I had either forgotten or overlooked. Scarlett is a fantastic example of a well-written unlikeable character. The reader may hate the things she’s done, but she’s written in a way that makes us understand why she does them. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

5 stars for the lush prose & character work. It’s clear that Margaret Mitchell was a master writer. Her strength of craft is clear. I went into this book seeking an understanding of “how did we get here, as a nation, in 2025?” I certainly feel as though I have a better understanding after reading the novel.  Mitchell certainly knows how to write a range of female characters, and clearly recognizes the strength that women have always had in carrying themselves and their families through crises.

Equally strong, however, is the strength of her racism. It is steeped into every page. If you are familiar with the film, know that the film’s language and message feels like a Disney adaptation in comparison with the book. Every character exhibits blatant racism and uses language that would shock us today. There is abundant use of the n-word. The narration — both from Scarlett’s perspective and as an omniscient commentary — is difficult to read at times. Perhaps the most difficult section is about two-thirds of the way through the book, where
every single male character actively participates in a Klan raid, which the women knowingly cover up.
Old, harmful ideas (“enslaved people were happy as slaves!”) abound. 

It’s hard to say if I would recommend this book. While I don’t necessarily believe that just because something is “a classic” it retains merit, I also don’t believe that we need to cast off all problematic works. I walked away from this book with a better understanding of a lot of ideologies that abound in America today, and I’m not sorry I read it. But this is a book that must be engaged with very critically and carefully. 

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

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challenging fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Very intense and interesting story but zero stars for racism and confederacy sympathy

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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