Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

10 reviews

kellpy's review

challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I read this book for an English Literature class 8 years ago and it still haunts me to this day. It is one of the most beautifully written books you can read from that time period, and being from Florida myself, the depiction of suffering through a hurricane is genius. No one else could have written this besides ZNH.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abandonment, and Classism

themdash's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tay_tay's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Incest, Death of parent, and Abandonment

redheadorganist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: Rape

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

sistatv's review against another edition

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity

allisonbrooke's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

amsswim's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As far as classics go, this has got to be one that has stuck with me more than most others. First read it in high school, really liked it then. Reading again, it was so much better than I remembered. Her writing is so vivid and truly pulls you through the story. An already short read for me went by faster because it is such a good story. Janey is a wonderful main character, and her journey to Tea Cake is incredible. I also love the author's commentary on feminism, intersectionality, and society at large. Devastatingly sweet book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Antisemitism

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

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

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

hnnh_bug's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

The book is a very difficult read. Not only for its subject matter, but all dialogue is written phonetically to help emulate the southern accents of the characters. Although it's a short book, be prepared to slow down because it's not one you can speed read through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief