Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

109 reviews

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

 Beloved was directly cited by the Nobel Committee upon awarding Toni Morrison with the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature. I see why. Beloved is the kind of book where I want to doubt the humanity of any US citizen even tangentially familiar with slavery who isn't changed upon reading it. I finished it yesterday and stared into space for a few minutes, unhearing my fiancee ask me what kind of burgers I wanted for Memorial Day. 

Beloved was inspired by the true story of Margaret Garner - an enslaved woman who escaped to Ohio and killed her daughter before being found so her daughter wouldn't return to the horror of slavery. Horror? That word isn't powerful enough to describe American slavery. Likewise, it would be reductive to call Beloved a horror novel. Though the titular Beloved refers to the ghost of one-year old killed by Sethe (one of the book's protagonists) for the same reason Garner killed her daughter, this is so much more than that. Beloved is both her own story and a eulogy for the "sixty million and more" lost through the Atlantic slave trade - per Morrison's own dedication. 

I can't describe more. Nothing I can summarize would be appropriate. It's rare to experience any piece of media so profoundly changing, loving, and heartrending. I can't call it hopeful, but I also can't call it hopeless. The trauma (generational and personal) of slavery is expressed in so many ways - from the "tree" on Sethe's back to the two words "it rained". 

This was my first Morrison novel, and two things surprised me. First, I did not anticipate the book to be so discursive. This is not a bad thing. Characters flit back and forth between different time periods in their heads as PTSD, and several times it's an errant action or phrase that sets them off. (After writing that, a friend told me that Morrison coined the word "rememory" to describe this phenomenon; it's also used in the book.) Second, Morrison has such an incredible economy of phrase where one-off references end up having extreme impact, like

when I realized Stamp Paid was castrated or what Baby Suggs truly meant when she said "lay down your sword and shield", which was otherwise implied to mean "open your heart to love".

"We got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Death of parent and Blood

Minor: War

pine_rhyme's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Slavery, and Violence

realesttorturedpoet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Gun violence, Child death, Sexual violence, Death, Slavery, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Racism, and Torture

morenowagain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Rape, Racism, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gun violence, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty

blep's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Um. Holy shit? No wonder Toni Morrison got a Nobel prize. This is a master at work

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Slavery, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Trafficking, and Child death

alcmusso's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Rape, Gore, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Sexual assault, Child death, Deportation, Slavery, and Blood

thomasina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Child death, and Pedophilia

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Racial slurs, Child death, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, and Grief

ssummar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Infidelity, Rape, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and War

ezplonk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Deeply profound.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Slavery, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

Minor: War