Reviews tagging 'Death'

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

113 reviews

stindex's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

charityc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Misogyny

charliebites's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Death, Emotional abuse, and Racism

Minor: Mental illness, Hate crime, Chronic illness, Dementia, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Rape

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, and Slavery

upgirlcd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

Powerful love for this book!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, and Death

lilliana_blackstar's review against another edition

adventurous 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

Words cannot do justice or portray the expanse of emotion that resides in this book. The writing is divine and alive. Most of the story is told in dialogue - conversations between two or more people, rich in the colloquial speech of the characters: black people in Florida in the early 1920s and 1930s. The dialogue is rich and alive and tells all the things that are happening through gossip or arguments or conversations between lovers or neighbors.

“You’se something tuh make uh man forgit to git old and forgit tuh die.”

Then, in between the conversations, the poetry. Oh, the prose! The poetic narration to fill in the blanks of the story with such depth of color and emotion. 

“So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day.”

“There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought.”

I had a good deep cleansing cry at the end of this book. 

“Of course he wasn’t dead. He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking.  The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.”

Note - the Harper audiobook is narrated by Ruby Dee, and it is a masterpiece of voice acting. 

I picked this book in January because I wanted to read books by Capricorn authors during Capricorn season. Zora Neale Hurston was born January 7, 1891

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence

thebookgiraffe's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Slavery

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Animal death

anxiousbeauty96's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.0

This is a great book. This novel follows the story of Janie and her 3 marriages. All of Janie’s husbands are misogynistic but Tea Cake seem to be the one who truly loves her and loves him as well. Their story his heartwarming MOST of the time. Some of the things he did were questionable, but you can tell they loved each other. The ending made me cry.
I like that Hurston decided to to write the dialogue in Southern dialect but it did make it hard to read at first. Once I got the hang of it, it got easier. It’s a great read. I highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Misogyny, Gun violence, Slavery, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Racial slurs

henrib11's review against another edition

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