Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

75 reviews

katosta8815's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This book was not my favorite. The writing was overly descriptive and made way too much fluff. The chapters did not flow together well, and each scene change felt very abrupt. There were way too many characters to keep track of, and not enough time given to the MCs. New characters were being introduced even in the last few chapters, which was obnoxious.

All of the deaths were underwhelming and written in a confusing way — two of them were beloved characters, and I didn’t even feel sad when they died because I simply didn’t realize what happened. The third death was so incredibly random, and didn’t feel like justice at all.

Read the trigger warnings, and be prepared for it to be worse than what you’re anticipating.

Overall, from start to finish, the story itself was beautiful, but challenging. Some of the subject matter made me put the book down and walk away for a few days. But I liked the ending. I just didn’t like the way it was written, and probably won’t revisit this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, and Racism

roselynreadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, and Racial slurs

emma_sky's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Pedophilia

Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Terminal illness, Slavery, Alcohol, and Mass/school shootings

melissaamy7's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

greenan26's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Racism, Classism, Death, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Excrement, Pedophilia, Rape, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol

victoriastarkid's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Excrement

Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Child abuse

killeenm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

I liked it overall. I’m not sure why some plot points existed, and I wished things had been made a bit more clear. It got REALLY dark at times in ways that I didn’t think added to the storyline.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Xenophobia

djbobthegirl's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Ableism, Antisemitism, and Sexual violence

biobeetle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Xenophobia, Ableism, Antisemitism, Racism, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Child abuse

Moderate: Murder and Child death

Minor: War

cindypepper's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring 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

Loved this!

The premise of the book made it seem like it would be a mystery, but to call it that reduces the worldbuilding of the Black and Jewish neighborhood of Chicken Hill. <i>Heaven & Earth Grocery Store</i> is part slice-of-life but altogether a story about the ways that we, as a community, help each other out. It does take a while to juggle all the different characters and names of Chicken Hill (and the larger Pottstown area), to the point where I wasn't sure if this was going to be a whodunnit (it isn't). It was a lot to get my bearings as a reader and suss out the constellation of connections, but James McBride is actually very airtight with the details and the character studies and he makes sure that no detail is made unnecessary! Even the tangents are important! I found myself referencing seemingly minute details from previous chapters. This novel rewards the most astute of readers.

And paying attention isn't a chore here; the characters are vibrant and deftly drawn. (Shout out to the socialist girlie Chona!!!) Once the characters settle in, the book really picks up momentum and hits the ground running. It's a fascinating story of community crossing lines of race and class to protect a child who is failed by the so-called safeguards of society.

It's a triumphant story of solidarity, but McBride's humor and snappiness keep the storyline clear-eyed. By the latter chapters of the book, I had kinda forgotten about the skeleton, not because it was unimportant, but because I was so invested in the fates of the characters that the skeleton was more of a secondary thought. That said, the end is absolutely satisfying up to the very last page. If you want warm storytelling, rich worldbuilding, and something that's uplifting but not naively feel-good-y, I'd highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Racial slurs

There are

two scenes of sexual assault

.