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bluecanarylite's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Slavery, Racism, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, and Hate crime
happysoullovesyou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Rape
jesliwen's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Rape
artemisg's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Once you settle into the way this is written it is absolutely gorgous and heartbreaking and atmospheric. There are several different timelines with no introduction and several different points of view - complete with narrative changes (from third- to first-person POV with no preamble). Once you have a moderate handle on that, you can appreciate the absolute beauty of the writing style. Every word is used with such purpose, and he sentence structures and so intentional and beautiful.
They were not holding hands, but their shadows were.
This book follows Sethe, a resident of 124 Bluestone Road. The house holds her and her daughter, Denver, and the ghost of another daughter who dies in infancy. Paul D, a man from Sethe’s past as a slave, joins the house. Then, a a mysterious woman with unlined hands and dark, dark eyes turns up. She calls herself Beloved, the word engraved on the gravestone of Sethe’s dead daughter. Us readers, and the characters, try to decipher where Beloved came from, and if she is the spirit of the dead daughter or not. We fall in and out of love and fear with her. We also follow the lives of Sethe and Paul D when they were slaves at a farm called Sweet Home (it is anything but either of those things) before they escaped. It is brutal and vile and violent and hard to read. All of this is hard to read while being beautiful and smooth.
Clever, but schoolteacher beat him anyway to show him that definitions belonged to the definers - not the defined.
This book is am accomplishment and I am glad to have read it, and understood it as much as I could. Gorgeous prose, a heartwrenching story that I know is based in history, with lovingly crafted characters.
“Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.”
Graphic: Slavery, Torture, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual violence
katariinatoivanen's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Physical abuse, Grief, Confinement, Misogyny, and Child death
Moderate: Death
poisonlizzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Rape, and Racism
detroitbecame's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Rape
ctatu's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
kmshobbs's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Slavery, Abandonment, Child death, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, and Sexual assault
becann's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Slavery, Death, Blood, and Child death
Moderate: Racism