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elliebasta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Slavery, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Child death
Minor: Miscarriage
jeanned_arc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Slavery, War, Violence, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, and Infidelity
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Deportation, Ableism, and Abortion
jbfletcher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, War, Misogyny, and Classism
cultivatingdelight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, War, and Racism
Moderate: Cursing
vavocado's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: War
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Child death
amymegan27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, War, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Colonisation, Sexism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Death, Hate crime, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Slavery, Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, Racism, and Rape
jsam96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Slavery, War, and Sexual assault
kmhst25's review against another edition
3.75
Strengths:
- Making you care about truly reprehensible people. The male and females leads are both exceedingly unlikeable, and it can be hard to make an unlikeable character compelling. Mitchell does it with ease.
- The South's perspective of the Civil War. There's a lot of emotional context for what the war was like for people in the South. The writing makes you sympathize for the characters, even though you can't sympathize for their cause.
- Sheer readability. It's so dramatic that you can read it for hours at a stretch.
Weaknesses:
- The length. The book spans 12 years and is over 900 pages long. No book needs to be that long, and this one is no exception. There are sections that drag, specifically in the years before and after the war.
- The South's perspective of Reconstruction. The racism in this section is truly off the charts and the history is one-sided at best, downright lies at worst. This is a disappointment, because the history of the Civil War section holds up.
- No neat wrap-up. Mitchell has said that the book's theme is survival, which I would agree with, but I wouldn't say that there's a definitive takeaway or clean ending. It simply ends.
Graphic: War, Sexism, Slavery, and Racism
Minor: Rape
Rape is frequently discussed/mentioned, and there are some scenes with questionable consent and/or attempted rape. There are no explicit rape scenes.luminalpyxie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Slavery, and War