Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

41 reviews

yulecogs's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Chronic illness, Rape, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, and Cultural appropriation

mysteryspouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Ableism, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Body horror, Sexism, Violence, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Confinement, Rape, Colonisation, Death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Cursing, Sexual violence, Medical content, Racism, Xenophobia, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Grief, Excrement, Mental illness, Police brutality, Death of parent, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility and Slavery

abicaro17's review against another edition

This book is all over the place. I was over 50% of the way through the book and I still couldn't understand the plot. All the chapters were in different characters 3rd person pov and sometimes it would start in one pov and switch to another with no warning! I'm sure the end is great and super profound or whatever but I'm not reading 350 pages of nothing for the 40 pages of conclusion that makes it make sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, Death, Bullying, Fatphobia, Violence, Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Blood, Racial slurs, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

lejones1785's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

This book was not an easy read in more than one way. The story line meanders and never really gets to the point. It's like listening to my grandpa tell a story that included the side stories for all the people. It takes forever and never really ends. There was a lot that could make people uncomfortable so check trigger warnings. The writing was difficult, the characters disconnected, and the story hard to follow. I almost DNF'd, now I wish I had

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Grief, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

ninjamuse's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Ableism

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Death, and Chronic illness

Minor: Death of parent and Pedophilia

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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? No

4.0

I really enjoy James McBride's writing. I think this might be the fourth or fifth of his books that I've read. He has a way of taking topics of gravity and storytelling them with light and humor and poignancy. I feel like I can sleep better tonight for having read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Torture, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Violence, Bullying, Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Sexual violence

emmakrof's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store tells the story of from the perspectives of Jewish, Black, and White members of a small, early 20th century Pennsylvania town. There are many subplots (some of which I found totally uninteresting), but I found the “main” plot most intriguing — it had me racing to the end!

A Jewish couple must hide a deaf Black child to keep him from being institutionalized. But when the child stops the town’s doctor (and member of the KKK) from raping the unconscious woman who was sheltering him, the doctor turns him into the authorities. Rumors abound, but, of course, the white man’s story  is believed. After a short but traumatic stay in the state mental institution, the community conspires to and succeeds in breaking the boy out. With money from Jewish friends, the black family buys a farm down South and goes on to live a fulfilling, prosperous life. And the doctor meets a karmic, albeit accidental, end.

One thing I really loved about this book was the way the author portrayed the dynamics between the Jewish, black, and white community members. He depicts the different concepts of self, life goals, allegiances, and tensions community members create (and the ideas they create about others) in order to coexist. Everyone has a complicated relationship with everyone else, both inter- and intra-racial. It felt very detailed and very human.

But I found a few of the characters kind of one-dimensional. In particular, I had complicated feelings about Chona. Chona is a Jewish woman who is beloved by all in the community. She rebukes racism, rebukes antisemitism, rebukes misogyny, rebukes gender roles, rebukes ableism. She is not afraid to speak her mind and do what she believes is right. She spends her life running a grocery store at a loss and giving food away for free to help alleviate structural poverty.

She does everything to protect Dodo from institutionalization, until the moment she dies. Perhaps her only flaw is not inquiring when her black childhood friend Bernice drops out of school and subsequently avoids public life.

Doubtlessly, Chona is a great person, and I enjoyed her role in the story!! But I am conflicted about how to feel about her. Her colorblind, abilityblind anyone-is-capable-of-everything approach to life feels naive; but at the same time, she is closer to the “truth” than many of the other characters in this book!

Though perhaps her death signifies that viewpoint alone cannot carry one to success?

Chona feels too perfect, too certain, but maybe that’s the point.

While I enjoyed the plot, I felt the ending was rushed. I would’ve liked to hear more about Dodo

and his escape

than some of the more mundane town drama the author spends so much time on. I liked the inclusion of the mundane drama as it added more dimension to the story, but I felt the balance could’ve been better.

My final gripe is that the author includes a seemingly random rant about how cellphones are ruining our lives?? The timing of this rant was bizarre

(right after the community learns about Chona’s death — are cellphones really that evil that they should overshadow the death of a beloved woman, that the characters’ reaction to them would be stronger than their grief in that moment??? TOTALLY anticlimactic, and it took me out of the scene completely.)

Additionally, it was about two thirds of the way through the book, and up until that point, the story was firmly set in the early 20th century; there was not a single mention about how the events of the story would be interpreted in the present day or vice versa. It was SO weird and out of place, and he never returns to this point? I was so confused that it brought my overall rating down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Antisemitism, Death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Violence, Grief, Rape, Hate crime, Infertility, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Racism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Death of parent, Police brutality, Ableism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

books_brews_and_booze's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

James McBride does it again. He's crafted a compelling, well-written, powerful story with special attention paid to the setting, to the characters, to humanity.

One of the greatest storytellers of this time, in my humble opinion. I'd love to see school curriculums include his books in their lists, if they aren't already doing so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Grief, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Chronic illness

Minor: Abandonment and Excrement

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

3.5

This was an excellent book. I just didn't enjoy it. It felt slow and meandering at first. It eventually picked up the pace, and the various storylines came together for a thrilling ending. However, I spent most of the book wishing I had finished it. Once again, I must remember that just because a book is on a best-seller list doesn't mean I'll like it. I can appreciate this novel and even enjoyed parts of it, but I would have preferred this story as a mini-series to watch instead of reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Blood, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Antisemitism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

booknerd_therapist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

Oh my goodness. If you've ever read a book that ripped your heart out and made you examine it.... this is that kind of book.

Admittedly, it was off to a slow start. I had a tough time getting into it, because the author meticulously goes into every character's back story. But without that, there is no story. So it's necessary, and if you want to experience the full beauty of this book, you need to truly understand the characters.

This book isn't just about being black. It's not just about being Jewish. It's not just about racism and antisemitism and surviving those things. It's not just about the horrific abuse disabled children experienced a century ago. Those things are omnipresent.... but they are a backdrop. They are a backdrop for the real story: Friendship, love, resilience, family, hope. 

If you are hoping for a plot-driven story, this is not it. This is unapologetically character driven. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Racism, Antisemitism, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Murder, Sexual violence, Grief, Confinement, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death, Excrement, and Cursing