Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

34 reviews

greenan26's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Racism, Classism, Death, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Excrement, Pedophilia, Rape, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol

djbobthegirl's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Ableism, Antisemitism, and Sexual violence

wanderingghost12's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

4.0

James McBride is phenomenal at his use of irony and describing people. He creates a colorful cast of characters that are loveable, fearless, and completely human. He shows us the good, the bad, and the ugly very well and keeps us intrigued by their character development. This book was relatively slow at times, so portions were difficult to get through, but the last third of the book was great and so well-written. This book is very dark and portrays a clear and concise image of how America was like for minority groups in the 1930s. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Classism, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

theologize's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Excrement, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Antisemitism

burnourhistory's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Racism, Violence, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Classism, and Death

spacebeyonce's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

thank you monkey pants 😭😭😭😭😭😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Classism, Ableism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Pedophilia and Child abuse

clarkg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

"The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store" is a beautiful, lyrical tale of community and solidarity. McBride has created a rich world full of brilliant, dynamic characters whose fates entwine in surprising places. I appreciated many things about this book--the language, the care given to crafting the story's Black and Jewish communities, the breadth and depth of disability representation (though not without flaw), and its callbacks to a larger conversation about the possibilities and limits of justice on stolen land. If I had to describe "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store" in a single word, it would be "abundant".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Ableism, Child death, Death, and Excrement

Moderate: Classism, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infertility, Death of parent, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Xenophobia

Minor: Slavery, Infidelity, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

jennshelfishlife's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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? N/A

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Ableism, Antisemitism, Bullying, Classism, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Minor: Excrement and Infertility

oproy's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.0

It took a while to get into it. However, the character development and the way everything coalesced in the end was beautiful. It’s a hard story to read and although I personally felt like I couldn’t see myself in any of the characters, it was so well-written that I felt I was living on the Hill with these families.  It also felt both subtle and yet direct with it’s purpose, unlike some other books I’ve read with similar themes which seem to want to hit you over the head with the ideas of racism and prosperity. 

Overall, the first 2/3 is character development followed by 1/3 of a drive by story. It is well-written and

the the ending is satisfying

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Rape, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infertility

shottel's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

This book deserves the positive acclaim it’s received. It could fit in with the Great Novels that I was forced to read in high school, and I say that completely as a positive thing. Its depiction of overlapping cultural communities as conflicting and misunderstanding but ultimately looking out for and genuinely caring for each other is as hopeful as it is realistic. In the end, the villains aren’t the people with deep biases. If that were the case, there would be no one to root for in this book. Instead, the villains are the people who refuse to care about people who aren’t like them, and our protagonists are people who don’t let their misconceptions about other groups of people get in the way of doing the right thing. It’s a wonderfully positive message.

The writing style is immaculate as well, with perfect balance and flow and a dry sense of sarcasm. The presentation choices (font, spacing, etc.) present this book like great work of literature, like a fancy looking Bible, and it manages to earn these dressings. The plot is well-paced, with just the right amount of twists and turns. I couldn’t suggest a single phrasing or word choice or paragraph restructuring that I feel would be better. 

The sole reason this is not a 5/5 review is that for all its excellence in depicting numerous different ethnic groups and people of different ages and abilities, the identity of the author as a straight man comes through. It’s the sole mark against the book’s virtual universality, an impressive feat given it’s situated very firmly in interwar-period Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, the repeated references to women’s breasts and buttocks and the greater priority men have in the story, among other things, was hard for me to miss.

Nevertheless, this book is still very close to a must-read. If you can manage the lengthy list of heavy topics the book covers (it pulls absolutely no punches with regards to the difficulties of life) and you think you even might possibly be interested in the setting and style, it’s worth your time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Excrement, Rape, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Hate crime

Minor: Colonisation, Medical content, Classism, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Slavery