Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

3 reviews

bookishplantmom's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

It’s clear to me why this is a classic. This was beautifully written. The author tells the story of Janie’s life through a story within a story format along with some brief vignettes from the MCs past. The story is melancholic and reflective. It was a pleasure to watch Janie in all of her iterations in different chapters of her life. Gorgeous book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Child death and Slavery

laura_huey's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a challenging, reflective look at love, marriage, and self-identity in Florida throughout the early 20th century, and offers a confronting yet affectionate glimpse of the area's African-American community at the time. 

Janie, the protagonist, has been raised by her grandmother, Nanny, and longs for a loving, equal marriage to bring her fulfilment in life. However, when Nanny catches her kissing a boy over the garden gate, she arranges what she believes will be a profitable marriage for Janie. We follow Janie throughout her life as she comes to understand what real love is, what constitutes a fulfilling life, and the sacrifices she'll make for someone she loves.

As a white Australian woman, I found this book to be a challenging read. It was beautifully written, and portions of Hurston's prose are almost poetic, but I found it took quite a while to get my head around the dialect that the novel is written in. Now that I know the story, I think I would benefit from rereading this book in the future. I'm also interested in viewing the film before revisiting the novel, as I think that may help me with the dialect also.

Overall an excellent read. I recommend approaching it with compassion for all the characters and not forming your opinions about them until the end. Everyone is complex and has layered motivations behind their choices, so it's important not to judge them too quickly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

ashleycmms's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Physical abuse

Minor: Child death and Infertility