Reviews

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

ellies_92's review against another edition

3.0

My sensation is that this is a book about African Americans written by a white person for white people.

I liked the ending but while reading it seemed pretty slow-paced, especially the first half. I wished all the action didn’t happen in the second half of the book.
I also wish it didn’t contain so many N- words, I get it, this book is a sign of the times, but it’s truly disturbing reading it for the 100th time.
I guess the aim is to expose the hypocrisy of white folks back in the 1930s, and it’s meant to make you feel bad about it, and you can tell the narrator disagrees with the white-supremacy ideas expressed by Maycomb citizens (e.g. the teacher part near the end where the child herself realizes her teacher shows compassion for Jews but not for Black people) but still the narrator doesn’t openly rebuke these ideas, and the narration is very white-centered.
The only black recurring character is Calpurnia, and except for scolding and educating the children she doesn’t say much… I would have expected a redemption in Scout’s way of treating her as she grew older, but she didn’t. It’s a wasted opportunity in my opinion.
This book Made me feel that Black people voices didn’t count, a story unfortunately told from an all-white perspective.

A plus is that this book succeeds in “showing not telling”, but as a reference for myself, for the time being i’ll read books on the condition of African Americans only if they’re written by African Americans themselves.

nekotin's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

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

3.5

kameju's review against another edition

5.0

"Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough."

uliseluise's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-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? No

5.0

pofferfish's review against another edition

informative reflective

3.0

gooberjk's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

hannxm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

I loved this book! It's a classic for a reason! 

nazeefa_ahmed's review against another edition

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

4.0

Reading again for the first time since high school (it hits different as an adult). Love the message but the prose is even better. Lee knows how to reveal the motivations and morals of a character through banter with others. I think the tragedy and how quickly it was forgotten by the town speaks for itself. It’s one of those books that really sticks with you. 

shelhamm9's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective 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

georginareadsabook's review against another edition

challenging inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0