Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

93 reviews

zombiezami's review

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

I read McBride's memoir about himself and his Jewish mom years ago. It's wonderful to see how, in addition to research, he clearly pulled from aspects of his upbringing in crafting this book. I will say that, although I liked the connection to USAmericans being on stolen land, this would have been a stronger theme if there were any indigenous characters, which there weren't, as far as I remember.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Excrement, Sexual assault, Confinement, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Child death, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, Cancer, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Medical content, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Violence, Stalking, Grief, Cursing, and Outing

Moderate: Mental illness, Colonisation, Infertility, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Alcohol, and Misogyny

Minor: War and Slavery

n_degeorgia's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual assault

lindseyph's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Death, Racism, and Sexual harassment

mal_reads_books's review against another edition

The book was too slow and convoluted to maintain my interest. It had way too many side characters and storylines that didn't seem to go anywhere. Most seemed irrelevant to the main, but barely there, plot. I constantly found myself skimming parts because the story kept meandering. While I heard the story picks up toward the end, I'd already pushed myself enough that I no longer want to continue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Ableism, Antisemitism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Death

The author is a boob (and occasional ass) man for sure

tiamia1084's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Death, Confinement, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, and Excrement

lsinfield's review

dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Hate crime, Murder, Excrement, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Classism, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

maddamreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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

3.5

Definitely not what I initially expected going into the book. I expected a murder mystery and got an intricate weaving of lives of Black, Jewish, and immigrant communities. The build is slow, and I almost DNFed a lot. The intense world building starts to pay off towards the middle of the book. I learned a lot about Jewish and Black communities, culture, and music of the 1920s and 30s. It is obvious that this was created with immense care. That being said, it was a bit too slow for me and just interesting enough to keep me in. I did not connect with all of the characters, but some of them I loved. Overall middle of the road book for me. Should definitely be an AP high school required reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Ableism, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Death

betzine's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring fast-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

This one is a slow burn, but it’s an exquisitely crafted novel that comes together in a deeply moving, satisfying conclusion. James McBride has a gift for capturing America’s complex beauty— largely by depicting its profound ugliness with unabashed frankness. This is a novel that will stay with me forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Violence, Infertility, Murder, Antisemitism, Excrement, Ableism, Misogyny, Medical content, Racism, Sexual harassment, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

gregory_glover's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad 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

3.75

Loved the dialogue and character development.  There were a lot of characters to keep up with, but it mostly flowed.  Plot was slow to get started (the intro only makes sense in retrospect…have to reread it at the end), but it does start to grab you and pull you on to the climactic chapters with a twist or two that are worth the patience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, and Death

noshinbean's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Ableism, Death, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Grief, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Antisemitism, Racism, Rape, Hate crime, and Sexual assault