Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Street by Ann Petry

12 reviews

walkie_check's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Classism, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Stalking, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Child death, and Trafficking

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Bullying, War, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Rape, and Confinement

jwells's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

In her introduction to my edition, Tayari Jones says that The Street has elements of pulp crime fiction. I'm not sure if she meant it as a compliment - possibly as a neutral observation - but it might help explain how this book can be so unrelentingly grim, but at the same time, so hard to put down. I got swept up in Petry's storytelling, so that every time I looked up from the book, I was surprised (and relieved) to see my own life around me instead of Lutie's. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Racial slurs, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Violence and Animal cruelty

N-word used, when quoting racist white people

littleheartsx6's review

challenging sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty

fates_fables_golem's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. Unsure how to rate at this moment in time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.5

This is heckin intense. I'll have to read it again. The most unsettling part is seeing how little things have changed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual violence, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Blood, Emotional abuse, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Classism, Death, and Bullying

Minor: Abandonment

I extremely do not recommend this book for anyone sensitive to stalking/assault. Parts are very hard to read.

bianca_topete's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

This is such an impactful story that is emotional, reflective and sad but not dark. Its not a dark book in the sense where it makes you feel dread or horror. But as you read, your emotions are neutral through all because its the weird feeling of relatability. Ann Petry tells the story in a way that it is too realistic that you can't help but be numb about it. It would be like watching a film of your own life, you know those emotions and you can't help but have no reaction to them. It's a weird feeling that I felt whilst reading but I'm not saying it as a bad thing. I liked it, because it made the ending much painful and unexpected. The ending is what completes the story, how heartbreaking it is but also shows the reality of it all. All loose ends are not tied up but rather left there because that's how life is. You never really tie it all together. We follow other characters that are so raw that the characters don't feel like characters but rather humans. It's as if I'm a scientist studying people forced in a horrible situation, taking notes and not being able to do anything but reflect and spread the knowledge I learned. That is the whole story, a study of humans trapped in the most narrowest of trails. Great story! Changed my thinking and overall enjoyed it.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Racism, and Death

Minor: Bullying, Body shaming, Police brutality, and Animal cruelty

violentcello's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty

mariaviola's review

dark emotional 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

4.5

“from the time she was born, she had been hemmed into an ever-narrowing space, until now she was very nearly walled in and the wall had been built up brick by brick by eager white hands.”

after finishing the street, all i can say is that this was a heartbreaking read, and what made it so heartbreaking was all of its honesty. there is no sugarcoating here—here is the story of a poor black single mother living in the 1940s and the things she goes through in trying to build a better life for her and her son. it’s raw and painful and some characters you will just want to hug and others you will want to beat the sh*t out of. it’s not very fast-paced but it’s a must-read in my opinion.

→ my rating ♡ 4.5/5 stars ←

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Domestic abuse

ohlhauc's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

I really, really enjoyed reading this book and can see why it's revered as a American classic.

First off, it is gorgeously written. The melody and structure of the writing flows smooth until there are moments of tension or violence, whereby the writing shifts to reflect the terror and trauma. The dialogue also felt natural. I liked how the author did use first- and second-person when she was sharing the inner thoughts of the protagonist, showing how Lutie was thinking of herself in those moments.

And then the story itself is well-constructed and the build-up to the climax is a slow-burn. You can see characters and forces creeping closer to a collision, and that tension compels you to read forward. The specific moments and the underlying themes and ideas showing racism, sexism, and classism - their separate moments but also how they're an interconnected web that feeds each other into a never-ending cycle of oppression was haunting and head on. You could feel the weight on the protagonist's shoulders - as well as the other characters - and how their society, and the street they lived on, were moulding their destinies.

The ending was heartbreaking but also made the most sense even if it's probably not the one you would want. 

If you care about reading great classics, you have to pick this up. I also highly recommend it for anyone who's interested in the Harlem Renaissance, stories about poverty and intersectional oppression (racism, sexism, classism), or even if you're into a story with lots of tension, twists, and brutal hard facts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Grief

State taking away a child

, poverty, classism

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty