Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

31 reviews

aliciamalcomb's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

It was recommended to me as cultural books that would or could be banned. I'm doing my best to read the stories written by human beings about our lives and lived experiences because when you have an experience that guides your beliefs are rarely going to falter when someone wants to argue that their beliefs are wrong because they differ. I would be incredibly ignorant to believe that my experience would be the same if I were in that situation because it would because what I look like is different. I am thankful for the opportunity to see through the eyes of someone who has experienced life differently than myself because I can learn empathy in a deeper way. We are all different but humanity should make us all the same.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment

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

emwebz's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Alcohol

florecita_lectora's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Miscarriage

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

annamariesreads's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

This book is not an easy read, but a worthwhile read.
I only wish I could've read it in 1974, when it came out because it has so much to say about the cultural context of that era.
This book shows us black love in every possible way- between two lovers, between family and between mother and unborn child. Despite the adversity, Tish is always looking for the positive that will come in the end. Even when all the lights are out.
Every character is interesting and necessary to the story.
James Baldwin has got to be one of my favourite authors, I could read his prose all day. 
No spoilers here but please check the trigger warnings I put on this review before reading. Description is not graphic but they are mentioned often and frequently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Pregnancy

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

mauricekofi's review

challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

This is my first Baldwin book, and now I understand why he's one of the greatest authors of time. The sorrow I feel from the story he creates is sobering, a reminder that the romance of people of color differs so far from what white people may imagine. His call out to Romeo and Juliet represents how this a tragedy like none other, not one of faults of the characters themselves, but from the evil and darkness that is America, the way it murders and cannibalizes it's citizens so it can call itself "great"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content

aishallnot's review

challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Miscarriage and Suicide

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