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dark
emotional
sad
slow-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:
No
How do you even rate a classic? The Bluest Eye is only 211 pages, but it took me a whole week to get through because of how heavy the content is. More than once, I had to put my Kindle down and just sit with my thoughts—processing the prose, the events, and the weight of these characters' experiences. My heart ached for everyone in this story. And it really made me reflect on how, even today, the idea that "white beauty is the ideal beauty" still lingers. We've made progress—especially with representation in children’s toys—but that narrative hasn’t fully disappeared.
Morrison’s writing is stunning, immersive, and unflinching. She doesn’t soften reality to make it more comfortable, and I admire that. That said, her narrative style was a challenge for me. It felt disjointed at times, and I struggled to follow certain parts. But that’s a me thing, not a flaw in the book itself.
This was my first Toni Morrison book, but it definitely won’t be my last.
Morrison’s writing is stunning, immersive, and unflinching. She doesn’t soften reality to make it more comfortable, and I admire that. That said, her narrative style was a challenge for me. It felt disjointed at times, and I struggled to follow certain parts. But that’s a me thing, not a flaw in the book itself.
This was my first Toni Morrison book, but it definitely won’t be my last.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Racial slurs
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
The Setup: Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is a devastatingly powerful debut novel that examines the corrosive effects of internalized racism, societal beauty standards, and systematic oppression through the tragic story of Pecola Breedlove. Set in 1940s Ohio, the novel follows Pecola, who longs for blue eyes, believing possessing them will grant her everything she's ever wanted: love, acceptance, and the beauty she sees glorified in white society.
The story is framed by the perspectives of Claudia and Frieda MacTeer, two sisters who offer a counterpoint to Pecola's vulnerability and struggle. Through their observations, Morrison critiques the deeply ingrained social structures that dictate worth based on skin color and conformity to Eurocentric beauty ideals. However, the portrayal of Pecola's suffering explores themes of colorism, poverty, and abuse with brutal honesty.
What I Loved: I felt weird even writing "what I loved" because there was nothing I loved in this book. This story was heartbreaking, brutal, and devastating. However, it was a piece of literature that masterfully crafted a necessary and compelling story to interrogate the cultural forces that shape self-worth and belonging. This novel was not just a story about one girl's suffering - although that was also profound - it was a searing indictment of a society that teaches children to despise themselves for how they look.
Morrison's apparent strength in this book was her prose - both lyrical and unrelenting, shifting between tender introspection and harrowing realism. She did not shy away from challenging topics but approached them with an urgency that forced readers to confront the harsh realities marginalized communities face.
The amount of pain written in these lines will likely haunt me forever. Pecola was a haunting character, and I will never forget her. Morrison nuanced all characters so heavily that I felt there right beside them. It's undeniable: Toni Morrison was an incredible writer.
I have no notes. No critiques. I'm sure the narrative of jumping back and forth from different perspectives without much context may throw people off a little, but it was all part of the process and story.
It was hard to read - shocking and, at times, repulsive. Morrison talked about rape, incest, and intergenerational trauma in the narrative. These are not light topics, but as noted above, the reader's role was to confront those devastating realities.
#readbannedbooks
***
The story is framed by the perspectives of Claudia and Frieda MacTeer, two sisters who offer a counterpoint to Pecola's vulnerability and struggle. Through their observations, Morrison critiques the deeply ingrained social structures that dictate worth based on skin color and conformity to Eurocentric beauty ideals. However, the portrayal of Pecola's suffering explores themes of colorism, poverty, and abuse with brutal honesty.
What I Loved: I felt weird even writing "what I loved" because there was nothing I loved in this book. This story was heartbreaking, brutal, and devastating. However, it was a piece of literature that masterfully crafted a necessary and compelling story to interrogate the cultural forces that shape self-worth and belonging. This novel was not just a story about one girl's suffering - although that was also profound - it was a searing indictment of a society that teaches children to despise themselves for how they look.
Morrison's apparent strength in this book was her prose - both lyrical and unrelenting, shifting between tender introspection and harrowing realism. She did not shy away from challenging topics but approached them with an urgency that forced readers to confront the harsh realities marginalized communities face.
The amount of pain written in these lines will likely haunt me forever. Pecola was a haunting character, and I will never forget her. Morrison nuanced all characters so heavily that I felt there right beside them. It's undeniable: Toni Morrison was an incredible writer.
I have no notes. No critiques. I'm sure the narrative of jumping back and forth from different perspectives without much context may throw people off a little, but it was all part of the process and story.
It was hard to read - shocking and, at times, repulsive. Morrison talked about rape, incest, and intergenerational trauma in the narrative. These are not light topics, but as noted above, the reader's role was to confront those devastating realities.
#readbannedbooks
***
Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs - all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl treasured. "Here," they said, "this is beautiful, and if you are on this day 'worthy' you may have it."
It was their contempt for their own blackness that gave the first insult its teeth. They seemed to have taken all of their smoothly cultivated ignorance, their exquisitely learned self-hatred, their elaborately designed helplessness and sucked it all up into a fiery cone of scorn that had burned for ages in the hollows of their minds - cooled - and spilled over lips of outrage, consuming whatever was in its path. They danced a macabre ballet around the victim, whom, for their own sake, they were prepared to sacrifice to the flaming pit.
Sunk in the grass of an empty lot on a spring Saturday, I split the stems of milkweed and thought about ants and peach pits and death and where the world went when I closed my eyes.
Along with the idea of romantic love, she was introduced to another - physical beauty. Probably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought. Both originated in envy, thrived in insecurity, and ended in disillusion. In equating physical beauty with virtue, she stripped her mind, bound it, and collected self-contempt by the heap.
Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love of a free man is never safe. There is no gift for the beloved. The lover alone possesses his gift of love. The loved one is shorn, neutralized, frozen in the glare of the lover's inward eye.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit
This is a dark book. Please take care.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Very heartbreaking story. It broke my heart. I had to take breaks in between to finish so it took me longer than I usually take for a book. It is a very sad story. It’s not roses and colors at all so definitely prepare yourself mentally
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
One of those books I keep thinking about after reading. Powerful.
Obviously sad and difficult, but so important.
Obviously sad and difficult, but so important.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-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
Graphic: Incest, Racism, Rape
challenging
dark
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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
We don't talk about Toni Morrison enough. Her writing is heavy, full of topics others would want to sweep under the rug. She calls out issues in society as a whole, but also within the black community itself, which is usually taken with negative criticism.
For being written in 1970 (about 1930s era black communities), this books themes of race/racism, women/femininity, home/family (or the lack of...), and sex/sexuality and how our characters deal with all of these things rings so true in today's world. The characters in this book all carry their stories with them, and are products of their environment and lack of addressing or growing from experiences.
The way that this book focuses on Pecola's story all while telling stories of those around her is astounding and masterful. Each character, possibly aside from Frieda and Claudia, all struggle with ingrained self hatred because of the racism they've encountered in their world. This book highlights how even within a community, especially one so affected by racism, racism exists inside of it, with lighter vs darker skinned African Americans. It shows how they strive for a sense of family and home, but have to distor it and find their own way to create it and "love" or love in their surroundings.
A book everyone should read and learn from.
For being written in 1970 (about 1930s era black communities), this books themes of race/racism, women/femininity, home/family (or the lack of...), and sex/sexuality and how our characters deal with all of these things rings so true in today's world. The characters in this book all carry their stories with them, and are products of their environment and lack of addressing or growing from experiences.
The way that this book focuses on Pecola's story all while telling stories of those around her is astounding and masterful. Each character, possibly aside from Frieda and Claudia, all struggle with ingrained self hatred because of the racism they've encountered in their world. This book highlights how even within a community, especially one so affected by racism, racism exists inside of it, with lighter vs darker skinned African Americans. It shows how they strive for a sense of family and home, but have to distor it and find their own way to create it and "love" or love in their surroundings.
A book everyone should read and learn from.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It's hard to believe this was Morrison's first novel - it's such a sophisticated, moving, mature-feeling work. The use of shifting perspectives and time jumps was extremely effective at simultaneously emphasizing the characters' alienation and building compassion. Somehow it is both a searing indictment of the entrenched systems and structures of racism, and a deeply personal exploration of individual experience under them. An all-timer from an all-timer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My heart’s aching in my chest after reading this. From the depth of the sadness, and the visceral beauty of Toni Morrison’s writing. I feel it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Pregnancy