Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

25 reviews

twtoppings's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

This is my first Toni Morrison book, a great introduction to the mastery of her storytelling. The story is told through multiple perspectives, spaced out unevenly and perfectly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

nellienellie's review

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this is a great book, super emotional and delves into a lot of different forms of childhood trauma. it’s a great rollercoaster ride 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Violence, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

tayyy_mayyy's review

emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Rape, and Trafficking

mdavis26's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Incest, Pedophilia, and Racism

3littlewordz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

This is the final standalone novel (really a novella) from the beloved Toni Morrison, and I'm so glad I listened to this in Muva Morrison's voice!

I don't have the vocabulary to express how I felt reading this novel. No words were wasted at all, and I actually wish some storylines

(Where did Bride's father go? Could we go more into depth with Queen's background? Why was Sophia even in a position to be falsely accused?)

were further explored. Still, with less than 200 pages, Muva Morrison chose which storylines to illuminate very intently. I had to keep reminding myself that Bride was pretty young because most of her decisions made absolutely no sense to my late 30s mind. The themes of child sexual and emotional abuse were interwoven throughout the story - incredibly heartbreaking, but it was not gratuitous. My only drawback is the length of the story, but I will gladly listen to or read again!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

sbnielsen's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I didn't like the characters though I'm not sure I was meant to like anyone. This book reminded me of "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" with a less abhorrent protagonist. As always, Morrison is a master of her craft and I can't complain about the quality of writing. The story and the molestation plot devices just weren't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, and Child abuse

tianxiao_shi's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Racism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Death

sierranichole's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racism, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Death

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, and Car accident

emilyeehaw's review against another edition

dark

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this unfortunately was not one of my favorites from toni morrison. this book is essentially "all the ways you can traumatize and fuck up a child". of course since it's toni morrison, she delves into these topics with a bit more nuance and buffers a lot of the fucked-up nature of the events with her distinct way of writing. 

but i just left this book feeling sad. it was interesting to read about bride and booker's relationship and see how that turned out. bride was definitely a character that kept my attention.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, and Sexual assault

blackcatkai's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

CW: child abuse, racism, colourism, violence, blood, casual ableism, sexual content, sexual assault (adult & child), death, murder, pedophilia

and outstanding novel about childhood trauma and how it affects people through adulthood. upsetting, sad, while still hopeful & wonderful. this was my first Toni Morrison and it will absolutely not be the last.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Racism, Sexism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Blood, Child death, and Body horror

Minor: Ableism and Pregnancy