Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

24 reviews

itsmackie's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, Cancer, Murder, Terminal illness, and Hate crime

Minor: Body shaming, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

abigailkokitus's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I did really enjoy this book, but the very excessive usage of the N-slur was a bit jarring and off-putting, and how race was addressed in general. I know it’s just realistically depicting the times (I guess?) but it was still difficult to read. Otherwise, I liked the story itself, and especially loved Ruth and Idgie’s relationship. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, War, and Alcohol

violetturtledove's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing slow-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? No

4.25

This really is a sweet book. I found it a bit confusing at first, it skips back and forth and it's a bit hard to keep track of the characters. It's a slow, lazy read, and at times a bit rose-tinted considering some of the darker subject matter (but it is using a framing device of someone reminiscing, so that tends to have that effect). There are some quite funny bits and engaging characters, and i felt the ending tied it all up nicely.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism, Murder, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

gretag's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Racial slurs, Ableism, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Terminal illness

jmeyer255's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-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: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, and Rape

chloenfp's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Cannibalism, Classism, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Child death, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, and Slavery

rchristine11's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This was a great book. I knew very little about it going into it, and was pleasantly surprised at the sapphic relationship. This book is an adult novel and no character is without fault or flaw. The book is reflective and nuanced. It is told nonlinearly and touches on themes of sexism, aging, racism, abelism, colorism, domestic violence, euthanasia, non traditional family units, coming of age, and poverty. The book uses slurs continuously throughout. It’s not for everyone, and could easily offend. I usually stay in the fantasy/sci-fi/horror genres, but I ventured out for this one and I’m glad I did. I absolutely love a nonlinear story with multiple narrators. Sometimes it was an omniscient narrator, other times we are listening to ninny reminisce, or reading the weekly bulletin and the book jumps between decades, cities, and characters quickly. I really enjoy that narration style in a book.  It takes a great writer to pull all that together to create a coherent story. 
I’ve read a lot of critiques of the novel since finishing it and I think many of them miss the point of reading an adult novel (as opposed to children or YA lit). They mention the problematic nature of Idgie and Stumps relationship or the character Grady being likable while also being a KKK member. People point to colorism and racism and abelism displayed by the main characters. I feel like each criticism is saying “the narrative portrayed something bad and, because it wasn’t called out as such in the narrative, the book itself is promoting harmful ideas.” To which my response would be that this is a book for adults. As adults, we don’t need to be told when something is bad. This type of narrative style allows readers to engage critically with the issues presented and form their own nuanced opinions. 
This is not an easy read. It’s challenging, slow, and reflective. But it is a good book regardless and is full of hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence

lily1304's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

3.25

Fried Green Tomatoes reminded me of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, in that the pace of the plot is slow, if there even is a plot. The emphasis is on the charming characters across generations, and a kind of nostalgia for the early 20th century. It's a cute little story, worth reading but not very exciting or memorable.

It's flagged as "LGBTQ+" because it prominently features a committed relationship between two women, and no one in the novel is ever weird about it. Racism and sexism are strong themes, but there is apparently zero homophobia in Whistle Stop, Alabama. It's honestly kind of refreshing, but also confusing. Everyone treats this couple like they're married, but they're described in really vague terms, almost like a "Boston marriage" romantic friendship. It's like the opposite of The Price of Salt.

The way racism is depicted is particularly interesting - the novel features the Ku Klux Klan and an old white lady with a mild discomfort around black men and everything in between. It's difficult to tell which mildly racist opinions are the author's and which are just the characters'. The N-word and the word "colored" are used with abandon. The novel also makes a big deal out of colorism among the black characters.

One of the characters, Evelyn, an older lady in 1986, goes on a whole journey about how sexism has affected her life - and her story concludes triumphantly with her at weight-loss camp, and losing a significant amount of weight is one of her victories. Unironically. Evelyn's relationship with Ninny makes it seem like the story is about to take a strong body-positive stance, but it's a total bait and switch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Cannibalism, Dementia, Fatphobia, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and War

Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy

amcghig's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Death, Child death, and Alcoholism

rieviolet's review against another edition

emotional 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

2.5

While it was an easy and quick read, I cannot really put aside all the negative aspects I found in the book. 

Got tired really quickly of all the uses of the n-word and the general "white savioury" vibe (I get that society at the time was racist and you cannot erase that but the author didn't realy need to go so hard on this trope), and I couldn't really stand the racism that still permeated the more recent story line. Also, like some other reviews mentioned, I find really unbelivable that in such a society (Alabama in the 30s) people would be so very much racist but at the same time be so cool about queer characters and not once say anything about the main relationship; I really cannot buy it. Not really a fan also of black characters being depicted in quite a stereotypical and one-dimensional way. 

Moreover, I found the character of Evelyn to be all over the place and I also really really did not enjoy the fatphobia in her storyline, thank you but no. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Rape, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Death, and Cancer

Minor: Ableism, Pedophilia, Murder, Cannibalism, Homophobia, and Alcoholism