Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

68 reviews

hegesteindal74's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

4.5

A bit challenging for me to read this in english because of all the cultural references. That might have influenced my impression af this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Racism

megansoetaert's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

This didn’t live up to expectations for me. I like the idea of a book being a study of a community, and how community will save you, but I don’t feel like this was executed in a way that holds your attention. There was not enough and too much happening at the same time. I think Dodo’s story is all I was really invested in, but ended up feeling rushed anyway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, and Racism

Moderate: Rape

elletrixie's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Ableism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Antisemitism, Rape, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Racism, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

wackydopamine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

3.75

I would've loved it if not for the way that the women were described and for the wildly unnecessary interject of a "cell phones are evil" message in the middle of an intensely dark and sad scene.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Child abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Hate crime, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Mental illness, and Excrement

zombiezami's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

I read McBride's memoir about himself and his Jewish mom years ago. It's wonderful to see how, in addition to research, he clearly pulled from aspects of his upbringing in crafting this book. I will say that, although I liked the connection to USAmericans being on stolen land, this would have been a stronger theme if there were any indigenous characters, which there weren't, as far as I remember.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Excrement, Sexual assault, Confinement, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Child death, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, Cancer, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Medical content, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Violence, Stalking, Grief, Cursing, and Outing

Moderate: Mental illness, Colonisation, Infertility, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Alcohol, and Misogyny

Minor: War and Slavery

jaybis's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Beautifully written book about a town of characters. Several scenes will stay with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, and Child abuse

theabee's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad 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

4.25

A poignant interwoven story. Sometimes hard to follow with so many characters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Ableism, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abandonment

megandirks's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Rape, Racial slurs, and Violence

marini_lexa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Racism, Antisemitism, and Sexual violence

kamrynkoble's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

3.5 stars rounded up. I'm not sure I would've read this if it wasn't for my book club, but I'm glad I did.

My main complaint is the sheer volume of characters and the lack of a clear goal/plot/central story. And for all of the random stories I had to read about them, I really don't know them well at all. I told my cousin that if I was trying to make these characters in the Sims, I would have a bear of a time trying to come up with three traits for any of them. 

Reading felt like a bit of a chore, and I think I would've taken much longer if I wasn't trying to meet my book club deadline. The nature of it just made me skim, and when I skimmed, I missed a lot of what makes this book strong. I ended up transitioning to audio because of how much I was skimming, but then I struggled to focus on the audio too. I ended up reading a summary that made me appreciate it a bit more, and I think I would've benefitted from active discussion as I read rather than just being independent until the end.

I do wish that the setting would've been more grounded. I feel like I can't clearly picture much of it, and it was so important to the story.

The strength lies in the themes. It provides ample opportunity for reflection and discussion. For these reasons though, the content warnings abound. Make sure to scan the list ahead of time if you have any common triggers. 

While the summary I read helped me appreciate the bigger picture of this novel more, I think it often gets lost in the slog with this one. I didn't need McBride to be heavier-handed, but a little more focus/less distraction would've made it more impactful in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Racism, Racial slurs, and Ableism

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Excrement