Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

100 reviews

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

laraamaee's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.25

It’s a crime that this is my first proper Toni Morrison read. I’ve been wanting to read Beloved for years, having heard so much about it, but put it off because of the dark/heavy subject matter.

I finally got round to it by doing a buddy read, and after about 50 pages, I couldn’t put it down.

Morrison is a master of storytelling, of deftly weaving the webs of the past & present together to create an unchronological unfolding of horror. Beloved is haunting, violent, mysterious. The trauma of slavery bleeds through the entire book, which makes it very hard to swallow (especially as it’s based on the true story of Margaret Garner). But since America was basically founded on slavery…Morrison’s work is an essential read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

amberwinsor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

Def deserves more stars but some of it was over my head 🫣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

bearsiies's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

abisnail564's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Torture

makayla_muir's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

This is definitely a book I'm going to re-read at some point. I just know it is one that I am going to continue thinking about for a long time. I found this book to be eye-opening and so full of depth and complexity (hence why I want to come back to it - even when I've just finished reading it). There were chapters and sections of this that absolutely enraptured me, especially the scenes where Sethe is describing the 'whitegirl' in the field who helped her birth Denver, or Paul D after leaving 124 and living in the cellar, or Baby Suggs' celebrations in the field - I could keep going for a while. Why I'm not rating this higher is simply the writing style which I've had a problem with in the past when reading Morrison's work, it just doesn't always gel with me, but in saying that, I enjoyed her writing here much more than I have previously. I oftentimes found it exquisite - a perfect mix of poetic, lyrical, flowery and restrained, clear, and authentic. I am looking forward to re-reading this to see what I pick up on that I may have missed (I know there will be a lot) on this first reading.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder

zeligcromwell's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Abandonment

spossum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and War

tetedump's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and War

marlene_wp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence and War