Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

99 reviews

kia_y_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Slavery, Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Drug use, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual content

neverlandpages4's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

• From the very first page, I knew that this book would be a poignant, inspiring, and educational story. It explores racism, queer identity, friendship, family, and so much more.

• This is an epistolary book written in AAVE, the first half is written from Celie to God, and it explores Celie’s life and all the hardships she’s faced, the second half is Nettie’s letters to her older sister, Celie, and she describes what it was like becoming a missionary and traveling to Africa.

• It's also mainly literary historical fiction and it does focus on the characters more than the plot. I’m usually more of a plot person so I did find it a bit boring at the beginning but I’d say around the 30-40% mark it did get more interesting.

• Nettie’s letters made me really emotional, she talks about how due to her lack of education, she didn’t know anything about Africa and was surprised to meet other black people that were not enslaved and not working for a white family. It’s such a heartbreaking thing to read knowing that this was (and still is in some parts of the world) reality. That the color of someone’s skin determined whether or not they deserved to have basic human rights.

• I love how this book also explores misogyny and how some of the women stand up for themselves and question the “norm” that is misogyny and sexism during that time period, and fight to learn and get an education regardless of the horrible men that stand in their way.

• Celie made me laugh out loud many times, her character development was inspiring and I was so happy for her when she finally took charge of her life and started doing the things she loved.

• I’d highly recommend reading this!! Even if the genre isn’t something you usually read, it’s still an important book that explores so many difficult topics in such an honest way. There’s also a movie adaptation that I can’t wait to watch!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Sexism, Incest, Racism, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Body shaming, Drug use, Classism, and Grief

Minor: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Vomit

mysteryspouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Grief, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pregnancy, Rape, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Racial slurs

reedmorebooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Slavery, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

Minor: Body shaming, Death, War, and Colonisation

nadia's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.0

I've finally read this classic, in time for the latest movie (which I was surprised to see massively simplified the book, in terms of plot points and themes explored).

I really liked the book! I liked the letter structure and appreciated all of the themes covered. I certainly did not expect to laugh out loud at parts, especially so early on. Those who've read the book or seen one of the film adaptations might guess at what was the cause of this!

Didn't have as much of an emotional pull as I thought it would have though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Colonisation, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Incest, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Classism and Injury/Injury detail

melist6's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Incest, Grief, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

eekke's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Drug use, Genocide, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Incest, Violence, Murder, Hate crime, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Abandonment, Racism, Death, Cursing, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Infidelity

znvisser's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

The Color Purple has been one of my mom’s favourite movies for years, so it’s about time I watch it (and then the upcoming release too of course); but then I couldn’t without first reading the book. So I sourced a pretty Penguin edition and finally got started. 

This story does a lot of things and it does all of them really well. It’s full of complicated people, relationships and lives; of women gaining strength and wisdom with their years and some men trying (and some not); of exploration of faith and building community; and of (post-)colonial criticism slicing through it all. 

In advance, I was weary of its form - through letters, but it worked out surprisingly well. And I'm also becoming more and more of a sucker for stories in which the real love story is platonic. This is such a rich story, and I can’t wait to see how it translates into films. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Infertility, Addiction, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Alcohol, Body shaming, Death, and Drug abuse

perleerose's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

Man this book was great. My friend recommended it to me saying ‘it’s mandatory reading for white people’ but it’s so much more than that. It’s such an intersectional book and anyone would be a better person for having read it. The love the characters have for each other is palpable. 
‘But when you talk bout love I don’t have to guess. I have love and I have been love.’

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Racism, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Minor: Grief, Racial slurs, and Death

universe_of_possibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Oh man. I love celie. I feel so deeply for her; I see myself in her and every black woman that I've ever loved. I never expected this book to be so intimate. I have only ever seen the original movie, the musical, and the movie musical, which aren't even comparable to the book to be honest. They are different Celies, different Netties, different Shugs. But the format of the book, reading Celie's personal letters to God and to Nettie, and Nettie's to Celie.... these characters are just so real. So real and flawed and deserving and enduring. 

Celie's queerness is so vital to her identity and i don't understand why they decided to minimize it so in the movies and musicals. And same for Shug. Celie is a woman who has been done nothing but wrong by men, never felt anything for them, only loved one woman. Her love for Shug ignited something in her that was stronger than her trauma. Celie is a LESBIANNNN and that's important and amazing!! Don't jump me but the sanitizing Celie and Shug's relationship to one giggly kiss kinda makes the adaptations feel lazy. Like the sparknotes version for people who didn't want to read the book.

Dear God, dear Celie, dear Nettie, dear trees, dear sky, dear stars, dear peoples, dear everything, dear God. I CRIED. I honestly cant put into words how Celie's relationship away from/to the God she learned to speak to as a girl and the God she met as a woman. But oh man i cried. When Celie ended her letters to Nettie with amen, idk i felt something crack open in me. Alice walker girl idk how you do this writing shit. This is the best book i have ever read in my entire life.

When Celie said "i don't think us feel old at all. Matter fact, i think this the youngest us ever felt," that was the last straw lol. Celie and Nettie are the EPITOME of 'we were girls together.' They were girls together!!! As grown women, they reunite finally feeling supported, secure, loved, safe, everything they were supposed to be feeling as children. They can be young now :( good grief.

Of course this book, as all books, has its flaws (although they are few and far between) but i have never read something like this before. This book is beyond. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, and Child abuse