Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

73 reviews

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

mlthomas234's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Great read. I was surprised by the lyricism— this book is endlessly quotable and beautifully written. The plot and the characters were both fine, but the writing style really elevated everything. And actually some of the side characters did really jump off of the page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kennethwade's review

slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism

alienstatement's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Rape and Slavery

lostinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This classic has been sitting on my shelf for a while so I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. Although I was frustrated by a lot the decisions she made, Janie was a great character who was strong minded, adventurous, romantic and loving. You really want to root for her to get her happy ending. The men in her life are a whole other matter but you can understand what attracted her to each of them.

The real triumph of this book is in the writing. It is lyrical without being dense of flowery and it has such a rhythm to it that once you start reading you don't pause for breath. Most of the story is portrayed through dialogue and this is done masterfully. The opening chapter using gossiping ladies to set the story was just perfect. 

Where it falls down slightly for me is in the pacing of the overall story. I felt that some parts were hammered home for a bit too long while other more exciting aspects of the plot were over in a flash. But really, this is not the type of book that you go in to for a twisty exciting plot and for what it wanted to achieve, it certainly delivered. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Racism and Sexual assault

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

elyssajoh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual content

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

dumaurier's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexism

libraryghost's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Grief