Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Bluest Eye

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

250 reviews

misha_ali's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was not a fun book to read, but an important one.

For someone who loves complex characters, this should have appealed to me more. However, hopping around to dive deep into the backstories of various characters got me a bit turned around at some points and we don't get a direct POV at all from the main character in question, just other people talking and thinking about her. As a result, while I enjoyed building up each character from the fundamentals of their parents, their childhood, and circumstances, sometimes I just wanted to get back to the main character.

Despite this, there's a lot of important thoughts about the black experience in this book. I believe Toni Morrison suggests in the afterword that since this was her first novel, she was not quite satisfied with it today and would change a few things about it if she were to redo it now. I'd agree and while there are thought-provoking ideas and interesting imagery in this book, it's not my favorite.

It is still very much worth a read, and content warnings for some deeply uncomfortable experiences to do with sexualisation and sexual abuse of a minor.

Content Warnings

affiknittyreads's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

samanthaleereads's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

5starliv's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Toni Morrison's masterful integration of the reader into the seasons of a black childhood in 1920/40s America makes the tragic plot painfully resonant. She cleverly uses innocent narration across generations to reveal the trauma and abuse that serves as the backdrop to the horrors that Percola, an eleven year old girl, undergoes. The novel serves to reveal more than an isolated case of abuse, but the barren social landscape in which all the characters are forced to survive in a racially segregated and hateful America.
"A little black girl yearns for the blue eyes of a little white girl, and the horror at the heart of her yearning is exceeded only by the evil of fulfilment"
The way we see the world is brought into question by Morrison - how a child sees her life, and how the colour of her eyes can change the beauty she sees in it.

Content Warnings

asiminam's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

waiiowinging's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I passed on this book during my high school curriculum out of fear my white male teacher would ruin the text for me. I'm very glad that I held off and got to experience this book on my own. Reading the afterword, I realized that this book is meant to change the behavior of the above all. I hope to implement what I've Learned by giving more of my love and attention to those that society has deemed unworthy of it.

Content Warnings

lilaccoconut_bookclub's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Absolutely incredible, but not for the faint of heart (see content warnings). Toni Morrison paints a tragic picture of a black girl growing up in post-Depression, pre-Civil Rights Movement America whose surroundings and generational trauma lead her to self-loathing. Rather than being banned by schools, it should be part of the curriculum. The subject matter is heavy but it presents a very real reality for many POC, even today.

Content Warnings

zreadz's review against another edition

4.75

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

samants's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A heartbreaking story of generational trauma, racial self-loathing, and the destruction of societal beauty standards. Read this one quickly but will be thinking about it for a while. A hard read but an important one.

Content Warnings

kemrick19's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

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