Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

11 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

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

marenm's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.5

really interesting story but so slow and drawn out 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship

historyoftape's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

There are so many good things packed into this story. A rich understanding if culture and language, characters that grow or are stifled depending on their environments, social, economic and political commentary, great dialogue, captivating imagery... It's a book that had me deeply invested in the main character's goals, dreams, and growth, where I loved the side characters, and where, while I may not have made similar decisions, I could understand and even support Janies decisions because I understood that they were the right path for her. The ending was heartbreaking and real, hurt me in a good way. It's been a while since I read a book that finished this strongly.

The way Janies words were so rare in the beginning of the story, to how confident and free in speaking she is by the end was one of the most striking things to me. One of the most effective but subtle ways to show her growth I have encountered in a while. 

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Content Warnings

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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment, Body shaming, Animal cruelty, Violence, and Alcoholism

Minor: War

henrib11's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-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

4.75

Incredibly well written and dialogue heavy. A story worth reading and easy to fall in love with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Bullying, Body shaming, Classism, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Hate crime, and Racism

Minor: Medical trauma, Slavery, Violence, Confinement, Gun violence, and Addiction

themichellegray's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective slow-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

4.0

2024 Re-Read - 4 stars
A poetic book that celebrates language and the power of finding your voice while simultaneously offering a look at feminism in the 1930's. I originally read this in my high school english class and still find the written preservation of Black American's dialect at the turn of the twentieth century to be the most memorable part of the story.

While this book follows Janie throughout stages of womanhood and details her romantic relationships, I wouldn't classify this as a romance. Instead it is a slower paced journey of self-discovery while living in a highly misogynistic and racist world. While Tea Cake's character was flawed, he brought so much joy into an otherwise challenging novel and I couldn't help but admire him.

This is definitely a story that is meant to be deeply analyzed and discussed (which would make for a great book club pick). While I was able to grasp the overall symbolism and metaphors, the writing style often became dull which removed me from the narrative leaving me a little lost.

The content of this book can be difficult to consume but offers such a hopeful message that is sure to make you reflect on your own life, appreciate the progress that has been made since its publication, and help to understand how our language has evolved and intertwined over time.

Original Read (2007) - 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, and Slavery

Minor: Rape, Alcohol, Abandonment, Animal death, and Sexual harassment

anna_m_k's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Brilliant and beautiful, this novel completely deserves all the accolades it has gooten. Their Eyes Were Watching God follows the life of Janie from a young girl to a middle aged woman as she discovers herself snd love. Her relationships with her grandmother, her husbands, and the people of the towns she lives in guide her life and her quest to not just survive but live with joy.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Rape and Slavery

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

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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, Eugenics

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 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