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hannahcstocks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Dementia, Racism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Dysphoria, Xenophobia, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Abandonment, Infidelity, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
historyoftape's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Gun violence, Murder, Confinement, Grief, Animal cruelty, Classism, Death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Addiction
zombiezami'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
Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Violence, Medical content, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Racism, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Rape, and Blood
Natural disasters, Colorism, Eugenicslaura_huey's review
- 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
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.
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
4.0
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
hawkrose18's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
I had to read this book for school and I am so glad that I did because it was truly an amazing story. I plan to check out more of Hurston's work in the future because I really enjoyed how she told this story. I loved following Janie and learning about her life and the hardships that she went through to become who she was. I also loved how this book was not solely focused on the black suffering (it was there, but it wasn't just this), and instead also focused on black joy and black love and it was all around just a beautiful story that I hope more schools include in their curriculum. Sometimes the abusive relationships Janie was in got to me and hit me harder than I would have expected, but I do think that it was still important to the story and helped Janie become the person she ended up being and I love that she ended up becoming herself and lives for herself instead of those around her.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, Gun violence, Rape, and Slavery