Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

8 reviews

zrals's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful fast-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

3.75

An evocative novel of a time, place, and the interplay between various communities. There are a lot of great characters and the plot moves quickly, setting up a complicated series of dominoes for the final act. 

It's one of the rare books I wish were longer: I found it to be at its best when it was fleshing out the stories of secondary characters or details regarding the town. While the plot is fine, I think spending more time creating some of the minute details of the place would have really made this sing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Racial slurs

elletrixie's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Ableism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Antisemitism, Rape, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Racism, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

zombiezami's review against another edition

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

abicaro17's review against another edition

This book is all over the place. I was over 50% of the way through the book and I still couldn't understand the plot. All the chapters were in different characters 3rd person pov and sometimes it would start in one pov and switch to another with no warning! I'm sure the end is great and super profound or whatever but I'm not reading 350 pages of nothing for the 40 pages of conclusion that makes it make sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, Death, Bullying, Fatphobia, Violence, Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Blood, Racial slurs, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

zoeysdigest's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The front was too slow, and it was only till much later we saw the connection to the larger story. In some moments it will make you angry, make you feel the unjust for several characters but I love how life develops for all in the little town. You see the spirit of the people from a small town coming together despite their differences in origins, how the goodness of a lady's heart can connect different ones. The development of certain twisted characters; trauma from their youth and how they're stuck in them in their adulthood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Death

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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

4.0

I really enjoy James McBride's writing. I think this might be the fourth or fifth of his books that I've read. He has a way of taking topics of gravity and storytelling them with light and humor and poignancy. I feel like I can sleep better tonight for having read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Torture, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Violence, Bullying, Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Sexual violence

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This was an excellent book. I just didn't enjoy it. It felt slow and meandering at first. It eventually picked up the pace, and the various storylines came together for a thrilling ending. However, I spent most of the book wishing I had finished it. Once again, I must remember that just because a book is on a best-seller list doesn't mean I'll like it. I can appreciate this novel and even enjoyed parts of it, but I would have preferred this story as a mini-series to watch instead of reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Blood, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Antisemitism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

mraddd's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Excrement, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Grief, Body horror, Racism, Rape, and Xenophobia