Reviews with content warning for Addiction - To Kill a Mockingbird

Wow. I really dropped the ball not reading this one until now. I'm sure it's much more impactful as a parent, though. Gripping, emotional ride from start to finish. Such perfect detail I had to keep reminding myself that it's a work of fiction.

Favorite fictional father so far! Just wow. And the slow unfolding of events as understood by a child overhearing things and not fully grasping the implications of situations is just perfection.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Racism, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

Moderate: Incest, Animal death, Sexism, Death of parent, Misogyny, Ableism, Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Slavery, Stalking, and Terminal illness

Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Suicide, and War

This book is for adults. It centers around a rape trial in which a black man is (falsely) accused of assaulting a white woman in a heavily segregated Alabama town.

It's deeply immersive, in a culture where racism is woven into the culture and impossible to avoid. The KKK and the "War Between the States" are part of recent cultural memory. Black defendants are always convicted no matter what. Lynching and mob violence are a very near threat.

Expectedly, the n-word abounds, among other racial slurs. Other language is not infrequent, including he**, g-d-, b****, wh*re, d**n, sl*t, etc. Lord's name in vain quite a few times.

Lots of death--not gory, but as close as it gets without actually witnessing it. Old age, and talk of the body being carried out of the home. Death penalty discussed often. A man dies:

the defendant, by 18ish bullet wounds, while trying to escape a prison camp.

Another man is killed while

trying to murder children, via stabbing by an unexpected rescuer. One child receives a horribly broken arm and is knocked out.

A rabid dog is shot.

Domestic violence:

the accusing white woman was actually beaten heavily by her father when he discovered she was making advances on the black man.

Morphine addiction is discussed and withdrawals are shown.

Both respectable and "unrespectable" poverty are shown.

Schoolyard bullying and fights, neighborhood verbal abuse and gossip about many culturally relevant "deficiencies" like unladylikeness, mental illness, intellectual disability, not being sufficiently racist, etc.

Lots of portrayals of Christianity. Some are good, including the nearest relationships to the MC, but many are not. A neighbor reports that a different sort of baptist told her she was going to hell, MC loses "confidence in pulpit gospel" when thinking on what a good person the neighbor is. "Foot-washers think women are a sin by definition. They take the Bible literally, you know." The ladies' missionary society talks about global cultures with pity and exaggeration, often conflating spiritual issues with cultural differences. A white employer tells her black housekeeper she's not being a good Christian when she is visibly affected by a serious injustice in the local community and nearly fired her for it. Etc, many more.

Other spiritual content: Kids spook each other with talk of spirits on dirt roads. "Dill was a villain's villain: he could get into any character part assigned him, and appear tall if height was part of the devilry required. "

Besides the rape trial and moderately explicit testimony, which includes brief mention of domestic SA, there's other, more minor sexual content. Incest in local families is mentioned very specifically a few times. There's a quick joke about infidelity. Kids lie and say they were playing strip poker, which gets them into trouble (less because they played with matches instead of cards). There's a "swift" kid kiss, and a boy climbs into bed with a girl he keeps promising to marry some day, but it's platonic.

"I'll tan you" and many other such comments, severe corporal punishment for children being an expected part of the culture. Kids laugh when the teacher gives "quick little pats" on the hand when they realize it was meant to be a "whipping".

plsnotanotherdamselindistress's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad

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

3.5

This book contains some heavy topics...and adresses them in a mostly good way.

It really took some time getting into the story as the first person narrator is not all knowing but the story gets told from the subjective perspective of a little girl.
But the choice of the narrator was also great because you do not just take on the opinion of the person that narrates the story and it realistically portrays how little children deal with such societal issues as in racism or sexism plus as this book covers years the development of Scout's character is really interesting.

I especially liked the variety of opinions and characters introduced as it represents society (then and now).
So even though this book was written years ago and about the early 2000s these themes are still current and thus the teachings are quite important and helpful.

Content Warnings

felicityvaughn's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

pabi's review

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dark funny informative 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

4.0

Content Warnings

m4rtt4's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book has been on my tbr for so long I feel ashamed I didn't pick this up earlier — better late than never, though, and there were so many layers to the story that I know I'll be rereading this some day. The court scene was my favourite, I felt like I was holding my breath the whole time I was reading it.

Content Warnings

elspethmigliore's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i usually wouldn’t find myself rating a book i read for school so high, but i think this story deserves it.

there’s so many layers to this story and so much to unpack, so i’ll just say that i genuinely enjoyed it. i know it’s controversial, but i really did like it. i laughed and cried and i think it was very reflective in many ways. the character development was incredible, but also i guess that’s the point of the story. the way scout reflects on her story at the end from a different perspective gave me a very strong sense of completeness. i’m sad after reading this, but also i feel ready to go into my english class tomorrow and reflect on it.

definitely a reread ✅

Content Warnings

vickeyreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

So much to say about this book!!!
I loved loved reading this book, and this book was my favorite to read in English the year I read it. It was easy for me to follow despite a lot happening in the chapters. At times I did not find Scout to be all that likable but I really liked her character development. And seeing Jem’s character development was tragic but made sense due to his empathetic nature.
I really enjoyed the antiracist themes of it as it not only relates to the books own setting, and the time the book was written but even our own time today as police brutality and other racist systems still exist in America today.
I think my favorite characters in this book either have to be Atticus, Boo Radley, or Miss Maudie.
With Atticus I find him to be a great role model for the kids showing how a caring human being should act as he teaches scout the idea of “walking in another person’s shoes”. And is a great role model by staying true to his own values to not only infront of his kids but to an entire court. And he breaks many societal norms by being a single dad raising his kids.
I loved Miss Maudie as she is a generally caring individual for Scout and the other kids. And seeing the entire community come together when her house was on fire is a testament to how kind of a person she is. Also Scout looks up to her and Maudie herself breaks many codes regarding gender as she tends to wear “men’s clothes” as it’s more convenient for when she upkeeps her flower garden. And Scout sees this and wears similar clothing and views Miss Maudie as a comforting character.
Boo Radley is such an interesting character, he is a mysterious character because he is shut-in himself.

I really liked his heroism especially when he saves the children at the end of the story from Bob Ewell

I found him to be a generally wholesome character!
Overall a great book would recommend to anyone interested in social issues to read it!!

Content Warnings

egmac156's review

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hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

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