Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

31 reviews

lawbooks600's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Representation: Black and biracial (half Black and half white) characters
Score: Two points out of ten.

I didn't enjoy To Kill a Mockingbird at any point in the book. I saw this one circling my recommendations, making me want to read it. When I discovered my library had this, I immediately wanted to pick it up. Soon enough, it was time to read it, and I initially thought it would be enjoyable, but it wasn't.

Spoilers ahead. I've warned you.

It starts with the first people I see, Scout and Jem Finch, recounting their lives in a small town named Maycomb. Nothing much happens in the opening pages (actually the first 150 pages,) until a court case occurs involving a Black person being accused of assaulting a white person. To say To Kill a Mockingbird was disappointing only scratches the surface of how abhorrent it is. To Kill a Mockingbird portrays a white saviour narrative as the white lawyer, Atticus Finch, swoops in and solves racism for the Black character, Tom. That has to be one of the most unrealistic rendering of racism I've seen. 

To Kill a Mockingbird ignores the fact that Black people and other minorities stood up for themselves to stop injustice and instead sends a message that only white people can stop racism for them. I would've liked the characters if they didn't play the white saviour. All I see is racism from the white perspective, and never hear from any of the Black characters. The last 100 pages weren't much better as all the characters in this fictional composition reflect on what happened, but not before one of them delivers a speech on colourblindness and how race doesn't matter and they are all only people.

To summarise, this piece of fiction from the author initially seemed promising, but when I closed its final page, I felt disgusted. You can read other books concerning discrimination like The Hate U Give instead of this.

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asimpson7's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? N/A

4.0

Such an interesting read. It really makes you think about how it would be like to live in that time. As I could not imagine thinking people who aren’t white are not equal to me. I know non-whites still face racism today. But to think of how they were treated back then is just awful. But I liked that Jen, Dill and Scout all thought it was wrong what they were doing to Tom Robinson. It shows childhood innocence and that people are taught to be racist they aren’t born that way, and because their father hadn’t raised them to be they weren’t.

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annapox's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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deliriah's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25


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nayeliv's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.0


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calicat42's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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frivilous's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5


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hybridtulips's review

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challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

Just incredible.

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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


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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. 

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