Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

93 reviews

chen1194's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Torture and Death of parent

Minor: Trafficking and Adult/minor relationship

gravedavis's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely breathtaking. A fantastically written story surrounding the act and aftermaths of slavery and the lingering ripples of struggle and death. Very uniquely human with gorgeous text. Only "critique" is that I personally found it to be dense at points, in true Morrison fashion (but that's just a personal preference, I have the attention span of a gnat). Incredible novel, will definitely be reading again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Child death, Murder, Sexual assault, Racism, Slavery, and Torture

jenmcvay'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? Yes

5.0

Holy Shit. Why did it take me so long to read this book? And, why is it not required reading in all U.S. high schools? (Scratch that question. I know why.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Torture, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Body horror, Sexual violence, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Racial slurs

Minor: War

kennethwade's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad

• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Child death, Racism, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Racial slurs, and Rape

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

voxelbee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Gore, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Racism

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Torture, War, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol

katsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

"That anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, or maim you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad you couldn’t like yourself anymore."

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

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

“You are your best thing”

I don't even know how to formulate my thoughts on this novel but I'm going to try. If you are a faster reader, like me, my best advice when reading this book is to slow down. This book is not meant to be inhaled in 1-2 sittings. The writing is gorgeous, obviously. Morrison won a Nobel for this book for a reason. However, there is so much symbolism and allegory that takes a hot minute to unpack. I am not ashamed to admit that I had to look up the SparkNotes for this book to understand some of the underlying symbolism. I'm incredibly glad I did because when I finished the book, I honestly felt let down. I felt confused and unsure of what I had read. I often found myself questioning whether certain passages were meant to be taken seriously. What would have helped me going in was understanding that there are two timelines. The one that begins when Paul D arrives at 124 ("present time") and the timeline told through flashbacks. There are two significant climaxes, one for each timeline. After the first one, I was really confused about where the rest of the novel could possibly be going just to get when the final climax occurred. I also wished I would have looked up some of the themes so I could have made more connections as I read. As soon as I understood how one of the major themes is how slavery destroys identity, so many things clicked for me. (And to be completely transparent, the fact that that theme didn't click for me until I saw it written out explicitly says a lot about my own privilege.) I completely understand why this novel receives as many accolades as it does. It is truly impactful but I don't think it's the type of book you can go into blind unless you have a really fundamental understanding of race and the generational trauma of enslavement. As a history teacher, I thought I "got it" but I think what I appreciate about this novel is how personal it made the history. It reminded me that it's not enough to sit around and intellectualize about the impacts of the horrors of history. This novel really makes you feel the very real personal implications of it and that is absolutely awe-inducing to me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

Beloved is deeply somber and at times painful. It's Toni Morrison's most well-known book and after reading it I can see why. It's full of tension and grief and symbolism, all reflecting to themes of how our pasts shape our present and future. It doesn't shy away from any of the harsh realities of slavery and how even for survivors of enslavement, their memories and trauma of torture will forever live within them even as they try to forge new identities as free colored people in their own communities. Sethe's past literally haunts her through the form of Beloved, a character that was fascinating in that she constantly bent the line between ghost of a dead child and reincarnation of a living child and as a reader you are left wondering which she is throughout the whole narrative. I am glad that I read this story and definitely want to continue reading Morrison's other books. The literary style and elegant writing she uses reflect her talent and free-thinking mind as an author who paved the way for Black writers and Black historical books to this day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

strabbyfieldz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

the final part of this book filled me up and then emptied me out again, Toni Morrison's style and wielding of chronology is like no others. a really powerful exploration of the trauma that inevitably follows slavery.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Child death, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Blood, Torture, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: War and Animal cruelty

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

This is my first Toni Morrison book, and honestly I really wish I had her way with words to express the emotions I had whilst reading this book. 

I won't lie, this book sometimes was so confusing that I had to use a guide to read alongside. However, I found this so helpful and after reading some of the analysis that was in the guide, it really helped me to appreciate this even more. Despite this though, I haven't read a novel for a while that has delved so deep into human emotion and trauma and in such an intricately exquisite way.

The freedom Morrison gives you when you take in her story is at times overwhelming, but excellently done. The titular character can be interpreted as a physical person present in Sethe's life, or as a metaphysical representation of the guilt and inescapability of Sethe's past trauma. Whilst grappling with the freedom of interpretation, you also have the challenge of decoding her lyrical prose. But this was most definitely the point. Trauma and the complexity of the emotions experienced by the character cannot be told in a linear narrative. Her writing is purposefully complex to reflect that. 

This story is a haunting and poetic retelling of the story of Margaret Garner, an escaped slave who murdered her child to save them from returning back to being enslaved. I didn't always get the haunting atmosphere around the house, but I certainly got a creepy feeling with regards to Beloved. 

I feel as though a re-read of this will really help to decode more of the meanings laced throughout this text. However, I do still stand by the fact that this book is absolutely beautifully crafted and whilst it was a challenge, it was an amazing read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Slavery, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Blood and Torture

hunkydory's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Torture, Hate crime, Grief, Slavery, Death, Child death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Medical trauma

Moderate: War