Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Of One Blood by Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins

2 reviews

toffishay's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

What an awesome discovery of a classic Gothic fiction written by a Black women! I had not heard about Pauline Hopkins before getting this edition of the Haunted Library of Horror Classics and I am so glad that I was able to pick up this copy. As someone who loves classic Gothic fiction, this book hit all the right tropes. <SPOILER> There's murder, betrayal, secret/hidden identities, power imbalances, revenge, and justice. I think that Dianthe's story was a little weaker in part because she has the role of the classic Gothic heroine, being the victim of injustice and waiting for rescue. In a more modern story, she would have been more active, but she tries to make her own path and receives retribution in the end. <END SPOILER> The pacing was a bit weird too, where the story felt interrupted by Reuel's story line and then we had to jump back to the original line. I also liked Reuel by the end and was eager to follow him as our main hero.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Blood, Toxic relationship, Murder, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Death, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Incest, Medical content, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Colonisation, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Classism

seawarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Of One Blood begins with Reuel, a young man who seems suspiciously withdrawn and fixated on the occult. Once one of his experiments recovers Dianthe, a lovely woman he's had visions of, from the dead, it's easy to assume that tragedy will ensue from this meddling with the natural order. Yet this event is surprisingly not the epicenter of the horror that befalls our protagonists. Rather, the horror in Of One Blood is found in the legacy of racism, enslavement, and white imperialism that envelops and links each of our leading characters in ways which devastate them all. The "hidden self" in Hopkins' subtitle can be assumed to refer to Reuel and Dianthe's strategical hiding of their Black heritage in order to survive in white proper society, yet the word holds far deeper meaning which unravels as the text progresses.

Hopkins' prose is enticingly written, she excelled with providing imagery to enhance our understanding of the characters' emotions and their environments. This story can be described and viewed through the lens of multiple genres, as it progresses in directions that cannot be confined to a single one. In many ways Of One Blood is a product of its time, yet in others, its examination of racial identity and the social rules generations of the powerful have constructed around it are relevant to the modern day. I would recommend reading this classic, but also to find an edition that provides you with historical and literary context that you may find useful throughout your reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

Moderate: Colonisation, Genocide, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Sexual assault