Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - If Beale Street Could Talk

Always nerve-racking to read one of your best friends’ favourite books. Fortunately I came to a similar conclusion! Man, reading this in the shadow of the George Floyd court case is heavy. But an important heaviness, a heaviness we need to feel and respond to, be motivated to do move against. Baldwin writes so lyrically and you feel the fresh heartbreak of every despondency whilst balancing the weary sadness of inevitability. And the space, the space to fill in the gaps, to confront your own feelings, like a Biblical ‘selah’. A classic and rightfully so.

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mikeebeth's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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laurenramsden99's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Baldwin's focus on the love story of two, young black people is equal parts sad and hopeful. Tish is an engaging character and narrator, even though the majority of the book is focused on her significant other, Fonny, and the impact of his imprisonment. The portrayal of Tish's family was especially impactful for me, as they except her and her decisions without question. I also love that, whilst this was a challenging book, politics was not the front and centre. It could be read implicitly in everything that was happening to the characters. The non-explicit violence also made the suggestion to what happens to characters such as Fonny and Daniel all the more terrifying and impactful. I felt the book slowed down in parts when Tish's Mum is in Porto Rico, but other than that, a near-perfect book.

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libbyhb's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A beautiful book, start to finish. I saw the movie in theaters a couple years ago and LOVED it, but didn’t get around to reading the book until now! Every character in this is well-rounded, totally nuanced. The writing is beautiful and poetic while still feeling grounded in reality. And the plot/premise feels like it gives you a real sense of what it was like to be black in 70s New York - and, to extent, what it’s still like now. I will definitely return to this again and again.

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lilifane's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

That hit hard.
But it was sooo good. The writing is phenommenal, maybe not for everyone but I noted down so many beautiful and powerful quotes. It made me feel all the emotions, joy, happiness, sadness, anger.
The story is told from Tish's perspective, a 19 year old pregnant black girl whose fiance Fonny is in jail accused of rape. It's a story about love and (found) family, and it's about racism and police brutality. You get to know Tish's and Fonny's love story from the beginning and their desperate fight for justice with everything they got. But you also get to know Tish and Fonny as well as their families in such an intimate way. The bondings between the characters made me tear up all the time. It's such a short book but I fell in love with these characters and they will probably not leave me anytime soon.

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