Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

4 reviews

michaelion's review

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

4.25

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

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

Minor: Vomit, Misogyny, and War

savannah_c_dipasquale's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Classism

lindseyhall44's review

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? It's complicated

3.5

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

corvicore's review against another edition

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

3.75

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: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Death

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