Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

37 reviews

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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pbruce593's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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lmayfieldx's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

“it was a future they couldn’t quite see, where the richness of all they had brought to the great land of promise would one day be zapped into nothing, the glorious tapestry of their history boiled down to a series of ten second tv commercials, empty holidays, and sports games filled with the patriotic fluff of red, white, and blue, the celebrants cheering the accompanying dazzle without any idea of the horrible struggles and proud pasts of their forebears who had made their lives so easy”

tw: racism, bigotry, child abuse, sa, death, past trauma

🤎 sense of community

🤎 deaf representation

🤎 disabled representation

🤎 found family

🤎 small town

🤎 mystery

🤎 past & current trauma

chicken hill is a town made up of many different people. clear barriers divide the people of chicken town. in 1972, a body is found under a well in pottstown, pennsylvania. nobody knows who it is or what happened to them. as we continue to learn about the groups of people in chicken town, we learn the true story of what happened.

—

this book started off kinda slow & honestly even at 40% in the book, i never would’ve guessed that this book was going to be a 5 star. i started this book weeks ago and finished the last 60%, yes you read that correctly SIXTY PERCENT, in one night

the beginning of the book is a bit slow. it focuses mostly on getting to know all of the characters (there are a lot) & developing their individual stories, which all intertwine in some way

later in the story, it makes sense why the first part is so heavily character focused. their stories start to blend & you see the bigger picture begin to unfold, so i’m very grateful that the book was written this way

dodo, nate, and chona are my favorite characters. dodo never saw being deaf as a disadvantage & continued living his life like normal. nate was extremely misunderstood. regardless of the different treatment that he received, he continued to stand up for what was right & care for people. chona was a force to be reckoned with. although she was disabled, she exhibited incredible strength, kindness, and selflessness

i enjoyed this book so much. i definitely plan to check out some of james mcbride’s other books

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jennaviolet's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

knkoch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

5.0

This was quite an astounding, complex, layered, clockwork mechanism of a book. Like in Deacon King Kong, McBride creates a huge and intricate community. In 1930s Pottstown, PA, the black residents are segregated onto Chicken Hill and neglected by city leaders and infrastructure; white protestants cling to power, privilege, and the false Mayflower-tinged history they believe justifies it; and the Jewish community, made up of both long-established families and recent immigrants, is caught in the middle of the town's hierarchy. Of course, when there's racial hierarchy, the middle is not so different from the bottom, and there are untold ways to experience cruelty and discrimination.

There are lots of mysteries in the plot, and I don't think I understood all of them, but the story didn't suffer for it. It's hard, and there's a lot of ugliness, individual and societal, exposed. But there's kindness, triumph, and joy, too. Truly everything between heaven and earth is present in these human beings, and in us, too. The world we inhabit can be both deeply broken and full of wonder at once.

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

In 1972, a construction crew finds a skeleton in the bottom of a well in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. But really, that's the end of the story. The real story takes place in the minority community of Chicken Hill in the 1930s, when Black and Jewish neighbors, estranged friends, quiet community protectors, well-intentioned hustlers, crooked public officials, morally diseased doctors, bankrolling mobsters, predatory monsters, and one deaf child intersect to reveal how an extraordinary community of communities came together to support and protect each other.

Content Warnings