Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

8 reviews

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous funny hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality

Minor: Sexual content

himpersonal's review against another edition

3.0

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A number of friends loved the book, and I think I might’ve seen the movie years ago. I anticipated a better book. Young adult isn’t my favorite genre, and as popular at Sue Monk Kidd is among my frowns, I think I need to stop wanting to like her books as much as they do. I simply don’t. This one was ok, but it  wasn’t exactly what moves my soul in any direction. I’m obviously the wrong audience. I hope lots of young adult readers find inspiration and learning about racism and what it looked like back then in the 1960s.

I will say that I appreciated Lily’s aha moment, realizing she’s had white entitlement her whole life when she overhears what one of the women she’s come to see as a maternal figure thinks of her being a white child in their home. I think this very pivotal moment is going to spur her adult self to fight as a Civil Rights activist in her later years, and who knows, maybe she and Zach end up best friends (and more) forever? That wold be nice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

whoopsiepoopsie's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, Classism

kbooks2's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Alcohol

coolfoolmoon's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny 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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Teenage me would've loved this.

I think the movie warped my  little baby brain, so then I ended up liking stuff like The Help and Hairspray, which I absolutely was obsessed with. But the focus on women, bees, connections to mothers and ancestry and selfs... Like ancestry lives within you and also you are your own mother... That white lady kinda popped off writing this. She kinda had a point to make. She kinda dotted her i's and crossed her t's. She kinda had her cake and ate it too. She kinda gobbled ate right the fuck up left no crumbs. She kinda did her thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment

Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, War

savannah_c_dipasquale's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Religious bigotry, Classism

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

3.5

emotional 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: Complicated

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The Secret Life of Bees is a critically acclaimed intersectional feminist story set in South Carolina 1964, amidst a time of racial turmoil. Readers follow Lily, a white 14 year old girl and her African American “stand in mother” as they flee discrimination, emotional/physical abuse, and jail on a journey to learn more about the protagonist’s deceased mother. While the premise of this novel was strong, I found that Kidd relied heavily on problematic stereotypes when developing the African American characters, for example, the angry, uneducated, and emotional black woman. As a biracial person myself, this was difficult to read, especially since I the characters were described as “eccentric.”Kidd also used the n slur as a white author, and the r slur as an abled author something I heavily disagree with. Overall, these factors and the writing were what knocked the novel down to three stars, but it is a compelling and fast paced read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment

whaddahell's review against another edition

3.75

emotional hopeful relaxing slow-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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I wish this book challenged me a bit more. Granted, the last book I read was The Poppy War which was pretty fucking challenging, but considering the topics this book covered (race, abuse, abandonment, mental health), I would've thought the book would be a little more provocative. I think there's also something to be said about a white author writing about a white girl running away from home and being being adopted by a group of Black women and the implications made, although as a white reader I don't really feel like it's my place to make any sweeping statements about. All I can say is to be wary of some mildly tone-deaf statements made in the book. As for the plot itself, I thought it was perfectly serviceable. Other reviewers have stated that the book is cliche-d, and I can say that I have NO OPINION on that matter seeing as I have never read any book like this before. The main character, Lily, was great. She felt like a realistic representation of a teenager her age, and I could relate a lot to her lying problem. The other characters were great as well, though I wish we could have spent more time with Rosaleen. There's a good portion of interactions between her and Lily at the beginning of the book,

but once they get to August's house Rosaleen kind of takes a step back from the plot

, which is a shame considering she is supposed to be Lily's "stand-in mother." All in all, this is a good book to read on a day off, but not anything mind-blowing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship