Reviews tagging 'War'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

38 reviews

bigteo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

The only reason I’m not giving this five stars is because I’m really strict to reserve it for books that won’t leave my mind for weeks or months afterwards. That being said, I think this is a really important book and something a lot of people should read provided they can stomach the dark themes.

Above all, this is a book about trauma. It’s obvious that every single part of the characters’ present lives are dictated by the trauma of slavery. It’s so much more than a ghost story. That part is almost irrelevant to the book. I feel like that’s important to say since I myself went into the book with the expectation of the “ghost” part to be a lot more present. It’s not a thriller ghost story. The horror doesn’t come from the paranormal, it comes from real life events that real life people had to suffer through, which is far more horrifying. 

The writing style is amazing. It reads like a train of thought, which can get confusing at times, but that’s probably all on me. I didn’t really like the main characters, except Denver. I feel like that’s something a lot of people will say. For example, it’s obvious that Sethe is deeply flawed and that her decision (spoilers, I won’t say) is morally bad. Does that mean she deserves to be cut off from the society and effectively punished for 18 years? Denver certainly doesn’t. I just felt really bad for Denver and how she was held back from things like education because of the family’s bad omen that Sethe brought upon them. The characters being perhaps a bit unlikeable is only because of deep flaws that serves for an extremely interesting read. They all felt like real people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Death, Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Child death, Sexual content, Slavery, and Cursing

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

Minor: War

ssummar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Infidelity, Rape, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and War

jeggert10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, War, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual violence and Cursing

Minor: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Alcohol, Chronic illness, and Excrement

ezplonk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

4.0

Deeply profound.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Slavery, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

Minor: War

viporras's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, War, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, and Sexual harassment

rkorevenge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was one of the most gut wrenching and beautifully written novels I have ever read. Sethe has a ghost story that will haunt you forever. Toni Morrison grabs your throat from the first page and chokes your hope right until the last line. Probably the most disturbing and important novel ever written. CHECK THE TRIGGER AND WARNINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Dementia, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, War, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexism, Child death, Colonisation, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Body horror, Self harm, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gore, and Sexual assault

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Toxic relationship, Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Blood, Misogyny, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.0

This was a very complicated book in my opinion. I thought the writing was incredible in so many different ways, so I really enjoyed that aspect of it. As for the characters, each character was so complex, especially characters like Sethe and Denver. I'm hesitant to say too much because I feel like the synopsis is a bit vague and I don't like to get into spoiler territory in reviews. I also feel like keeping the synopsis vague is a good thing because of how complex the characters and story are. Denver was such a compelling character, since when the books starts off she is very lonely, and she can come across as a bit closed off or bitter in some ways, but also very emotional in others. I really liked Denver and seeing her strengths and her flaws and how she grew. Sethe was obviously such a compelling and complex character, as you really dive into her motivations and the meaning and background behind all of her actions. She was a perfect main character to tell this story through in my opinion. Again, I don't want to say anything about the story that isn't in the synopsis, but I will say that this book is brutally honest in its portrayal of many things, and it doesn't shy away from things that other books/authors may be hesitant to discuss. In this way, this book offers a very unique perspective on slavery and on the time period it's set in that can be hard to find in other stories. I thought it was gut wrenching and overall, a very important story. However, be aware going into it that it is so complicated and can be hard to follow at times. However, I think this is intentional and a very good way to tell this story. It's confusing and can be hard to interpret but if you think about it you can get so much out of it. The only reason I didn't give this book higher than four stars is because I felt like, even though it is intentional, some things went over my head and I needed to go back to reread some parts often in order to understand where the story was going. Despite that, though, I found this to be a very incredible book and I would highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Child death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, and Death

Minor: War

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