Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

84 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

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

4.0

i am an inch away from crying over that last chapter my heart is breaking in the best way. i understand now why this story is a classic. 

this story captivated me in so many ways. to begin with, i will admit i was not enjoying this story. i found reading through celie’s poor spelling made it quite difficult for me to grasp what was happening, and many times i had to refer to summaries to understand what was happening. but as the novel progresses, you see celie become more educated, and it at least became easier for me to read as the words were spelled correctly. i do have to admit in retrospect i love the concept of displaying a character’s intelligence through purposefully misspelling passages, but whilst i was reading it did become a bit grating. i also found it difficult to understand the time span between events - i struggled to understand the progression of time, but i have a feeling this isn’t an issue on walker’s behalf, but my own.

this was an incredibly beautiful story. i have to say my favourite chapters would’ve been hands down the

letters nettie wrote to celie

, i loved exploring the land of olinka and how

celie’s kids

are fairing over there, especially the plot line with tasha. i also love how celie’s relationship with shug isn’t really questioned in a homophobic way. i know this is historical fiction and i truly was expecting some homophobia, but i was pleasantly surprised & relieved none of the main characters made homophobic remarks. sometimes i just want some wholesome women love, and that’s what this book was.

i will say i did not enjoy seeing how celie’s life was before shug. i know it was necessary to show celie’s character growth, and im not mad at it, but truly that was one of the reasons i think i didn’t enjoy the beginning. it felt like kicking a horse when she’s down.

my god were the side characters delectable. i’ll say easily my favourites were sophia and squeaks, with a cute mention to nettie & tashi. there were a lot of side characters and i will say i have no idea who a lot of them were simply because i lost track.

overall, this was a beautiful stories, covering the lows of celie’s life of abuse at the hands of men, and the highs of celie’s life because of the women she surrounds herself with, and the men around her who have grown to see celie for what she is - a queen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Incest, Racial slurs, Rape, and Colonisation

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Violence, and Sexism

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

achay91's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Colonisation, Misogyny, Cursing, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Death of parent, Hate crime, and Murder

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

eventuee's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Incest, Sexual violence, and Violence

temi1008's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Incest, Pregnancy, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

nadia's review

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

kiantet's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Rape, and Abandonment