Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

46 reviews

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

Another book that I am woefully inept to review. Toni Morrison's books are modern classics, but Beloved is... transcendent. I guess I will start by saying that I don't do ghost stories. I am at a point in my life where I know what freaks me out and I don't need to expose myself to those things. This is most certainly a ghost story (not a spoiler, it's in the synopsis). And the ghost is scary. She's not a nice ghost. No Caspers here. However, I didn't feel the need to put this book down or not read it before bed at any point. I wasn't scared by the ghost. The rest of the story on the other hand... It's almost as though Ms. Morrison was trying to contrast the horrors of slave life with the horrors of living with a violent poltergeist. And for Sethe and Denver, the horrors and consequences of slave life were so, so much worse. There were innumerable other themes and topics explored in this book, and the narrative style was very unique, in Ms. Morrison's classic way. It took me much longer than usual to read a book of this length, due to the incredible complexity of the work and the different facets to explore. I'm sure I'm missing so much, but what I did grasp, I will be thinking about and ruminating on for a long time.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Mental illness

pagesfromhome's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

Beloved was a reread for me this year and I still can't believe that a book this incredible exists in the world for us to consume whenever we'd like. There's a reason this is one of the few canonical stories that I would keep: no edits, no changes, no substitutions. I will always fight on the side of calling Beloved not just "a" but "the" great American novel.

While it can be an exceptionally difficult book to get through, it is well worth it. Approach with caution if you have sensitivities as it will burrow into your soul and won't leave for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Rape, and Sexual assault

r__kat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty

sweetmusic22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was the first time I've ever read any of Toni Morrisson's work. I've always been told that her work is beautiful but challenging (mentally, emotionally, and physically). By the time I got to start reading the book, it had taken me a while before I could really grasp Beloved's themes. 

Pros: I loved the way that Toni incorporated poetry and metaphors in this book. Beloved is unlike any other story about racism and slavery that I've heard/read. One of my favorite parts of the book is when she talks about how her dead baby granddaughter haunts Beloved's character. For me, it opens up conversations about why it can be hard for people to escape their traumas. You learn from Beloved's experience what it's like to experience the pain and trauma of being a different skin color and experience what it's like to lose a child during childbirth. Beloved also opens up conversations about sexual assault and how it mentally affects people in a certain capacity. 

Cons: A lot of the subject matter is a lot to handle, and the story is very slow-paced, so I had to take a lot of my time with this book. It took me a whole year to actually finish Beloved. 

In conclusion, I gave this book 4.5 stars. I thought the book was so beautiful, powerful, and well-done. However, if you really want to read this book, you have to be prepared to take a lot of time with it. For me, I did 2 pages one day and then 3 pages the next. Then, I would do that as a routine with it until I was finished (today). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Child death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Death

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

nbrockbank's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual assault

nora__reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

A study in the fragmentation of the self when subjected to slavery, a polemic condemning the practice of slavery, a prose poem, myth making, as radical and heartbreaking as it is beautiful.  
I listened to the audio book narrated by Toni Morrison herself, giving the story an added depth of emotion. I want to read the physical copy so I can highlight and mark it up in the places I loved. 
A book everyone should read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Child death, Blood, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape