Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

13 reviews

casserole_cg's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Rape

shanshelfishlyreads's review

emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read but I’m slightly confused and don’t know how to feel about the ending. I’m assuming it’s open-ended and it’s something for the readers to make their own deduction on but I wished it was something that had a “proper” conclusion. 

Anyways, this is my second Baldwin book and I loved this one a lot more than I loved the first. The story is still something that can be related to in today’s world by many people. I loved the representation of family, and how it’s not always defined by blood. This is definitely a book I’ll be thinking about for a very long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism and Rape

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

marena02's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I don’t know how to feel about the ending, but I liked this book. I enjoyed reading about Fonny and Tish’s love story, despite its sad and open ending.

For this to be my first James Baldwin book, I think the thing that stood out most to me was his writing from Tish’s perspective. She is seen by everyone around her as naive and overly optimistic, but it’s clear that while she goes through these new and traumatizing experiences of pregnancy and helping her man who is wrongfully incarcerated get out of jail, she is willing to change her mindset with every obstacle that gets in her way. Baldwin shows this in the way she he narrates her perception on the world and how she learns to navigate it alone with Fonny who has always been by her side. Her journey throughout the book was the most interesting to read about.

Like I said, I don’t really understand what he was trying to do with the ending, but everything else I enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

brittrowell's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use

bridgedeebookish95's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It's only a 4.75 because of the ending, but overall, it's a 5. Beautifully immersive. This novel's dialogue and first-person narration is unlike anything Baldwin has ever written. The voice is so distinctive, and the language is really specific. As always, his worldview is so central to all of his fiction, and I just love it! This story is really heartbreaking, but also so tender and sweet. I had such a great time growing and feeling with all of these characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism

lanamae's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Violence, and Death of parent

haileyeh's review

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicide, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

alexcribbs's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

I just finished this seconds ago. The book moves quickly but the story doesn’t until the very end. 

In some ways it feels like we’ve come pretty far in terms of how deep into a certain topic (eg. racism in our justice system) we’re comfortable going compared to how deep this book seems to go, but I think there’s a lot more to unpack here than what first meets the eye. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism and Rape

mattyvreads's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Gorgeously written and utterly haunting. One of the best books I have ever read, period. 

It’s a not-so-far-fetched fiction which is unfortunately, equally relevant today. It is so much more than a love story, although few succeed in painting as clear and honest a picture of humanity as Baldwin.

It’s hard to write a review for this book because words fail to describe it’s poignance and import. Absolutely everyone should read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicide, and Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry

clapyourshands's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Suicide, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment