Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

66 reviews

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

Moderate: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

ozziebug524_'s review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

bootrat's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

I had no idea this book was gay when I started reading it, and I can't believe I never knew! Half a star extra for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Colonisation

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

greenan26's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Pregnancy

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I can see why this book is such a classic - and why it's so frequently banned. I was pleasantly surprised at how open Celie's letters were about her love and lust for Shug Avery, and how upfront all the black characters were about all the various ways racism manifested in their lives & white people made things that much harder for them. It felt like a manifesto for black queer women, in fiction form. I loved that the ending, after so much hardship was ultimately hopeful. I'm not usually a huge fan of epistolary novels in general, but the format worked well for this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Amazing character writing, this book is hard hitting and poignant. 
The epistolary style works well, but the fact that the plot is a “slice-of-life-over-a-lifetime” made it a little bit meandering for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Gaslighting

staceys_adventure's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

oonareads's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

3.0

Thematically this is a really good book; however, narratively, it's not as strong as I expected it to be. The way Walker has chosen to frame the story creates both a slight emotional distance from the characters and a very narrow window through which the reader can view the events taking place. The timeline is a little hard to follow because the story dips in and out without any acknowledgement from Celie of how much time has passed, and any events which primarily center the side characters are glossed over because she’s not directly involved. I also had some smaller issues with Walker’s style (For example, I find her approach to sex to be really unpleasant to read), and all these issues combined detracted from my enjoyment of the book a bit. That being said, the ideas and emotions at the heart of this are excellent, and that rock solid core carried this book through some of the rougher patches. All in all, it wasn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be, but I do understand why it’s a modern classic and would recommend it to anyone interested. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Drug use, and Alcohol

bronzestars's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol