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laura_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 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
- 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
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
ashleycmms's review
4.0
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Grief, and Murder
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, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Gun violence, Rape, Slavery, and Blood