Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

92 reviews

ms_sarah621's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

2.5

I know that this is an unfair rating, I’m sorry. Here are my thoughts. Previously, I have read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and loved it. It was so poetic, had some hard topics covered throughout, and fascinated me the whole time. Since Beloved is talked about and referenced constantly, I wanted to give it a go. I went in expecting similarities to The Bluest Eye, and it just didn’t hit me the same way. Beloved is still extremely well written, poetic, handled some truly awful issues, and made an impact. However, I felt that it was too much and not enough. There were some great moments of character building, building the setting and the world these people lived in, and Beloved creeped me out in the middle of the book. Yet, the time jumps, the jumps to other characters, and the point of some of the information or long descriptions was lost on me. This feels like a it’s not you, it’s me situation. I think a reread or a discussion with others could help me more. Overall, a lyrical piece of history that just didn’t mesh with me at this time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Pregnancy, Violence, Slavery, Child death, Grief, and Racial slurs

Minor: Torture, Sexual content, and Death

eggfartz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Torture, Violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, War, Alcohol, and Body horror

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Abandonment, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Trafficking, Child abuse, Sexism, Violence, and War

laraamaee's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.25

It’s a crime that this is my first proper Toni Morrison read. I’ve been wanting to read Beloved for years, having heard so much about it, but put it off because of the dark/heavy subject matter.

I finally got round to it by doing a buddy read, and after about 50 pages, I couldn’t put it down.

Morrison is a master of storytelling, of deftly weaving the webs of the past & present together to create an unchronological unfolding of horror. Beloved is haunting, violent, mysterious. The trauma of slavery bleeds through the entire book, which makes it very hard to swallow (especially as it’s based on the true story of Margaret Garner). But since America was basically founded on slavery…Morrison’s work is an essential read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Child death

amberwinsor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Def deserves more stars but some of it was over my head 🫣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Child death

bearsiies's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Body horror, Death, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Incest

abisnail564's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Child death, Slavery, and Torture

makayla_muir's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

This is definitely a book I'm going to re-read at some point. I just know it is one that I am going to continue thinking about for a long time. I found this book to be eye-opening and so full of depth and complexity (hence why I want to come back to it - even when I've just finished reading it). There were chapters and sections of this that absolutely enraptured me, especially the scenes where Sethe is describing the 'whitegirl' in the field who helped her birth Denver, or Paul D after leaving 124 and living in the cellar, or Baby Suggs' celebrations in the field - I could keep going for a while. Why I'm not rating this higher is simply the writing style which I've had a problem with in the past when reading Morrison's work, it just doesn't always gel with me, but in saying that, I enjoyed her writing here much more than I have previously. I oftentimes found it exquisite - a perfect mix of poetic, lyrical, flowery and restrained, clear, and authentic. I am looking forward to re-reading this to see what I pick up on that I may have missed (I know there will be a lot) on this first reading.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Racism, Death, Slavery, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Murder, and Gore

zeligcromwell's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Body horror, Abandonment, Child death, Sexual violence, and Torture

spossum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Rape, Child death, Blood, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual violence, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: War, Adult/minor relationship, and Death of parent