Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

40 reviews

jessthanthree's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Terminal illness

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Racism

readingwithmeredith's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Abandonment

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

sofipitch'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? No

5.0

This was a gorgeous book. I remember trying to read this book a long time ago but I struggled to comprehend the dialect so I put it down. But 2 different friends recommended it to me and I'm glad I gave it another try. Honestly the choice to have the dialect is so intelligent, ppl often assume that bc someone speaks with a certain accent they aren't intelligent, so by having these awesome characters but with that dialect when they talk I think really dispels that bs view.

This was a beautiful book and Tea Cake was so amazing, the love between him and Janie was so realistic. Like the reason she falls in love is because he respects her as a person first, I was just swooning at the part where he teaches her checkers. But at the same time Tea Cake wasn't SO overly perfect that he didn't seem realistic. All the characters felt like they could be real people.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Domestic abuse and Toxic relationship

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

miaaa_lenaaa's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

4.5

Janie and Tea Cakes love story reigns supreme

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mugoika's review

emotional hopeful 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? N/A

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Racism

spoko's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Grief

allimoose37's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Rape, Terminal illness, and Antisemitism

readandfindout's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

On first read in 2019: 4.5 stars. Zora Neale Hurston's style is masterful.

2025 reread:
Overall rating: 4.25 stars
Style/writing: 5 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death and Gun violence

Minor: Rape and Slavery