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merle98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
hodgeonlucy's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, Violence, Torture, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Grief, and Child death
battybookworm's review against another edition
- 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
I think Morrison's writing is lyrical and moving as she shows this journey. It's not a linear told story and that was a bit of a struggle at times, but mostly I grew attached to the way she said things and ended up saving like 5,000 quotes from this book.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Child death
Moderate: Gore, Grief, Hate crime, and Suicidal thoughts
deedireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
I’ve been looking forward to reading Beloved since I started my project of reading all of Toni Morrison’s fiction (in order) earlier this year. It’s “the big one” — the one that won the Pulitzer and led her to win the Nobel Prize. I was obviously not disappointed. Incredible.
While the story is wholly original and not meant to be a retelling, Beloved was inspired by the story of an escaped enslaved woman named Margaret Garner, who killed her 2-year-old daughter to spare her from capture when slave hunters eventually found them. In Beloved, the house of the main character, Sethe, is haunted by the actual ghost of the daughter she killed. The book overall is about what it means to be free, how slavery impacts identity and memory, the impacts of community, and whether it is safe to love even if it means getting hurt.
Morrison draws you in and forces you to not to look away like pretty much nobody else who has ever lived. This book is raw and scathing and pulses like the open wound it means to expose.
I’ve said this with pretty much every Morrison novel I’ve read so far, but I can’t imagine reading this one without listening along to the audiobook at the same time. Morrison herself reads it, and her narration style is just as unique and breathtaking as her writing. It adds a whole layer of experience and meaning. Please listen to it.
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, and Child death
kylieqrada's review against another edition
- 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
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
lou_o_donnell's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, and Torture
gracer's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
A lot of what was going on here obviously went way over my head. I really wish I had read this in school, as so many of my classmates did, because so much of it left me thinking, "I don't get it!" But I did a bunch of research, and thinking, and some text message discussions with friends who had read it in school, and came to get a better idea of it, and I really enjoy it when a book makes me do that. When it requires thinking and when I am actually invested enough to turn to the secondary sources and get some clarification, then says very good things about the book.
That said, I'm still of two minds about it. One part, the five star part, recognizes that the use of language is excellent, the story is moving beyond what one could expect (I've been hearing about this book since I was 14 and yet nothing could have prepared me for this). The other part, the three star part, is aware that this is not the type of writing that I really love. I like books that are concise, that feel edited, that contain multitudes in their limited pages. I am not a great fan of descriptive passages. (For example, (view spoiler).) I assume that the reason I encountered that perceived wordiness here was partially because I am missing something and partially because it was written in the 80s, and for some reason I think of books from that time as being a little more... "flowery" is the word, although it's so completely wrong for this book. It also took me a long time to come around to magical realism, and I still sometimes grapple with it when I come across it.
So, four stars - and anyway stars don't really mean anything - as a compromise, and with the understanding that maybe I'll read this again some day. I hope I will. Maybe after I've gotten a little more exposure to stream-of-consciousness and magical realism.
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Child death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual violence, Medical content, and Death of parent
mvvelde's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Grief, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, and Mental illness
myrymayranen's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Slavery, and Torture
sunpuddles's review against another edition
- 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
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ insightfulness
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ readability
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ plot development
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ character
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ pace
Beloved is a true classic. This was a re-read for me, but all the memories of reading it in college came swarming back as I turn the pages. Toni Morrison has such a voice and gives her character such a voice. She is really able to give a mood and feeling to the scenes with her prose and cadence. She uses repetition so often and to great effect, turning the words into such beautiful poetry at times; creating an ambiance beyond the actual words themselves. Beloved is also such a heartbreaking story. The brutality of slavery and how it broke so many men and women it’s shown in graphic details to the powerful stories of the characters. Sethe’s story of killing her baby is appalling, and yet you still sympathize with the choice and understand how she could feel like she had no other. So many stories of being broken and putting yourself back together. I loved Paul D’s words “You your best thing.” They could help each other, but had to do it on their own too.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence