Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

74 reviews

amymegan27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

kmhst25's review against another edition

emotional sad

3.75

Such a unique book. I had heard a lot about it, and it still took me completely by surprise. 

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.

---

Content Warnings

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.

taralikesbooks's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

jeslis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Notes:
- New favourite book of all time right here!!!!
- This book is so long so quick favs: America circa Civil War setting, Rhett Butler is a hilarious and such an exciting character (he's my fav), exploration of how war and general contexts can change people, how sometimes people don't change in the way you want them to (Rhett viewing Scarlett, Scarlett viewing Ashley)

and how Rhett and Scarlett just missed each other time-wise with their loving the other.

- Writing style was amazing! It flowed so well and was really captivating and I think it speaks to her writing ability as to how deeply impacted I was by the atmosphere she can create in this book

(eg. Scarlett's panic when the Yankees invaded Atlanta, the harrowing trek back to Tara, etc.)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Miscarriage and Child death

Minor: Child abuse

malmark's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Violence, War, Child death, Cursing, Death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

kj_1429's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.0

Well that was racist 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

mastrisofha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, War, Racial slurs, and Racism

irynasb's review against another edition

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

lemonflower's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This is a tough one. The story is so good but the racism, misogyny, and romanticism of slavery is so strong. Every praise you’ve heard of this book is true, and every criticism is equally, if not more, true. In the end, I’m giving it a good rating because I rate them based on how engaged I was and emotionally invested, and that was a lot…. But yeah. It’s a tough one.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

Minor: Blood, Abandonment, Abortion, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Bullying, Pregnancy, Rape, Ableism, Physical abuse, Body shaming, and Chronic illness

elgringochapin's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, War, and Racism