Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

61 reviews

ekg's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Death and Physical abuse

Minor: Slavery

monahed's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, and Racism

seawarrior's review against another edition

4.0

This was a wise, lyrical novel written in both straightforward prose and dialect-rich dialogue. The characters in this novel have a variety of strengths, weaknesses, and ways of living in a world that is often merciless to them. One thing that struck me is how much humor is in this novel, laughing with each other cements friendships between the men Janie knows, and represents an alteration in her sense of freedom once she's able to similarly engage with them and tell her own humourous stories. Throughout the novel Janie lives marriages that revolve around work and duty, wealth and prestige, and finally, taking pleasure in life and the people you're with. None of these marriages are perfect, and none fully define Janie. Yet her last marriage gives her what she was searching for as a girl, a love that leads her to blossom and truly feel appreciation for the world she lives in. This was an engaging, devastating novel that deserves its place as a legend in literary canon. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Slavery and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content

alexandra_skl's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

4.75

Such a fantastic novel that really dives into deep themes about love, race, and, sexuality

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jamieruwen's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Quite a beautiful story but also immeasurably sad. Janie grows into such a strong character who controls her own destiny, loves deeply, and doesn't apologise for it. All I want for her is to be happy. I fully understand that the fact that the characters speak AAVE on the page (where "that" would be spelled as "dat", for example), and that it a core aspect of why the book was revolutionary. However... for me personally as a white non-native English speaker it made it really hard to follow at times. So if you are not intimately familiar with AAVE I suggest you find yourself an audiobook! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, and Sexual assault

rzh's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

ohh the prose here is magical. starts off a little slow but the portrayal of love, of janie’s self-development, her moving through the seasons of her life, the heartbreaking end… stunning ! marked down only because it is a bit slow to start off and it took me til about halfway to really get going with it, but i reckon if i reread it i would get going with it earlier on. the rural african american dialect also slowed me down a little as it wasn’t very familiar, but really added a beautiful oral traditional feel to the book so it was worth the initial struggle!! 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Misogyny and Slavery

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: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Drug abuse, Rape, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Natural disasters, Colorism, Eugenics

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

mlthomas234's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Great read. I was surprised by the lyricism— this book is endlessly quotable and beautifully written. The plot and the characters were both fine, but the writing style really elevated everything. And actually some of the side characters did really jump off of the page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

kennethwade's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

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