Reviews

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

lean_bean's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad 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

christinahill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

blingping's review against another edition

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

4.75

beeker123's review against another edition

emotional reflective

4.25

get_wrecked_mate's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

This book is so insanely good. By the time you get to the end, you are settling with the characters into their joys and pains. The epistolary form has never been better executed or more necessary. I can't wait to read more of her work and see more of these characters!!!

krishnendu's review against another edition

3.0

3.2/5

I started "The Color Purple" expecting to fall in love with it, and found myself reaching the final page without having experienced the connection.

The novel is an epistolary from the perspective of an uneducated African-American woman named Celie, written in Black English sociolect with intentional spelling and grammar errors. This makes reading difficult initially, especially for non-native readers.

At the intersection of racism, feminism, economic inequality, and spirituality, I realise this work is undeniably important considering it was published in the 1980s. It addresses many critical angles like male dominance, homosexuality, sisterhood, adultery, female genital mutilation, black slave trade, etc. But I struggled to resonate with the story and its characters.

Characters like Shug Avery felt impractical and the graphic depictions of child sexual abuse and incest were insanely disturbing. However, I enjoyed Nettie's detailed accounts of her missionary work in Africa a lot. I was rooting for Celie to denounce her biblical white-skinned blue-eyed old-man God so bad!

I wish i enjoyed this book as much as the other reviewers did. It is an extremely powerful piece in modern feminist literature exploring self discovery and escaping systemic oppression not just for homosexual black women, but women everywhere.

alina_hnb's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

lcummings's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

rebeck_5's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

reaperreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0