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dxmxus's review
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Slavery
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
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
lyatheenaka's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-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
5.0
my response paper on the book:
Cages and Lovelier Cages
Everyone’s journey to liberation looks different, especially when you do not know that is what you truly want. Janie spends this novel being swept off her feet; not by men, but by lifestyles, by false promises and desires, none of which will fulfill her. All predetermined and laid out for her bow her head into. Tea Cake was far from the ideal man but what he gave her was a taste of liberation, of choice.
When we first meet Janie, she thinks she wants love. She dreams of the flowers and the trees and the pollen blooming together. She was confident that she could find that in marriage, despite her feelings going into it. “Husbands and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage meant” (Hurston 21). That was not what marriage means and she quickly learned that. She never found love there, but she did find a cage. It was in the shape of plows, sowing needles, and thankless labor. Janie never wanted to slave her days away for a man she never loved. She soon ran from that cage.
Joe Starks extended his hand, in it laid a different cage, a much prettier one. This one was gilded, in the shape of opulence and high status. The cage had a label on it, in careful loopy script, Mrs. Mayor Starks. She was promised a life with little physical labor and where she would be exalted for her beauty. “A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat other folks plant just special for you” (Hurston 29). And nothing else. That is where the problem lies. Being pampered is fine until the loneliness sets in. When the pedestal you were put on is so high that you cannot talk to anyone, what is the point of the pedestal. This realization came slower to Janie and was that much harder to accept, but when the time came, she left it all behind without looking back.
Tea Cake was not perfect. It is very easy to fall into Janie’s view of him and make him an angel in our minds. She loved him with every part of her being, even deifying him in the end. But he is none of the sort. He hit her, he took her money, partook in rather strange activities and was overconfident. In fact, I would not say the storm killed him, but his own hubris. Tea Cake gave Janie something different, he gave her freedom. He gave her no cage, but a place by his side. She made decisions, gave her insight, was heard for once. She was liberated, despite Tea Cake’s faults, because her autonomy is fully realized. Are we sure, though? Being in true love is not the same as being liberated. Love can be a powerful binding force for a woman, and much lovelier and comfortable cage but a cage all the same.
That liberation was tested lethally when it was him or her. If she had picked his life over hers, we would know that she was never truly free. Love held her back from being a free woman. But she picked herself. She did not let love blind her and she took a life to keep hers. No cages, not anymore.
Janie knows what a cage looks like. She loved Tea Cake and would do anything for him, but she knew that she must live. Dying for a dead man might be a choice but it is not liberation. It is just another tool to keep a woman tied down, and Janie knows what it feels like. She breaks through and lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Terminal illness
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery
bimboliciousame's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.25
It was really good! I really liked the pacing which is rare for me. The ending felt like a plot twist but not like it was completely out of nowhere. I really liked how it was written without political claims because it leaves room for discussion while still pushing the readers’ thoughts. The narrator constantly asks questions which forces active reading onto the readers which is amazing. However, the circumstances of Tea Cake’s death felt random although the fact that he ended up dead didn’t. I mean it could be implied that Tea Cake would die because of Janie’s past relationships. But, the fact he died via rabies by a dog in a hurricane felt so random. But, i also believe it could’ve been an element of good being unpredictable and unstoppable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal death and Rape
wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Racism
Moderate: Rape and Slavery
raeviews's review
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Zora Neale Hurston's writing style is magical! Her figurative language is so beautifully crafted and the dialogue being written in dialect is immersive. I loved learning more about Florida during this time period and about Eatonville. Does a great job of discussing race and gender without centering victimhood. I love Janie's sense of self and her development as a character. Also, the ending is quite the page turner!
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Slavery, and Medical content
susanatherly's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Violence, and Abandonment
Minor: War
emadisonc's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-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
5.0
All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Misogyny and Slavery
phantomgecko's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book is beautifully written. My first thought was, 'this prose is kinda purple.' But actually it is gorgeous and not over the top.
This type of story doesn't appeal to me straight up, but the writing and the characters pulled me in. I didn't cry, but it was a near thing.
This type of story doesn't appeal to me straight up, but the writing and the characters pulled me in. I didn't cry, but it was a near thing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Slavery
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? No
3.5
I think this is a hard book to rate for me. It’s very well written, I liked the prose and themes a lot! I loved how feminist it was for being published in 1937. A great story about a Black woman's struggle for independence. It’s an important book as a touchstone in African American history. I don’t think that slow family dramas in lit are for me, tho, so it wasn’t exactly for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Gun violence and Physical abuse
Minor: Rape and Slavery