Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

17 reviews

passionatereader78's review

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challenging emotional inspiring 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

4.5

I enjoy how uncomfortable this book made me.  I loved the writing and the female characters. Great classic read!

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clovetra's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

i am an inch away from crying over that last chapter my heart is breaking in the best way. i understand now why this story is a classic. 
this story captivated me in so many ways. to begin with, i will admit i was not enjoying this story. i found reading through celie’s poor spelling made it quite difficult for me to grasp what was happening, and many times i had to refer to summaries to understand what was happening. but as the novel progresses, you see celie become more educated, and it at least became easier for me to read as the words were spelled correctly. i do have to admit in retrospect i love the concept of displaying a character’s intelligence through purposefully misspelling passages, but whilst i was reading it did become a bit grating. i also found it difficult to understand the time span between events - i struggled to understand the progression of time, but i have a feeling this isn’t an issue on walker’s behalf, but my own.
this was an incredibly beautiful story. i have to say my favourite chapters would’ve been hands down the
letters nettie wrote to celie
, i loved exploring the land of olinka and how
celie’s kids
are fairing over there, especially the plot line with tasha. i also love how celie’s relationship with shug isn’t really questioned in a homophobic way. i know this is historical fiction and i truly was expecting some homophobia, but i was pleasantly surprised & relieved none of the main characters made homophobic remarks. sometimes i just want some wholesome women love, and that’s what this book was.
i will say i did not enjoy seeing how celie’s life was before shug. i know it was necessary to show celie’s character growth, and im not mad at it, but truly that was one of the reasons i think i didn’t enjoy the beginning. it felt like kicking a horse when she’s down.
my god were the side characters delectable. i’ll say easily my favourites were sophia and squeaks, with a cute mention to nettie & tashi. there were a lot of side characters and i will say i have no idea who a lot of them were simply because i lost track.
overall, this was a beautiful stories, covering the lows of celie’s life of abuse at the hands of men, and the highs of celie’s life because of the women she surrounds herself with, and the men around her who have grown to see celie for what she is - a queen.

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jhump89's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.0


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sweetheart_ok's review

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

As we follow Celie, we have a full view of life as the underdog, the person taken for granted, the overlooked and unloved. However, it becomes evident that this is the one person who is needed most, because this person is the mirror for everyone else. Questions of religion, gender, sexuality, and race are weaved into the journey just as they are in real life. The characters are real, vulnerable, strong, and human. A must read gor those who like to dig into the real (ugly) truth of human nature.

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staceys_adventure's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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hollymileham's review

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emotional 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

5.0

incredible. so real and raw. obviously this wasnt an easy read but a must read regardless. i have learnt so much

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thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

3.0

Thematically this is a really good book; however, narratively, it's not as strong as I expected it to be. The way Walker has chosen to frame the story creates both a slight emotional distance from the characters and a very narrow window through which the reader can view the events taking place. The timeline is a little hard to follow because the story dips in and out without any acknowledgement from Celie of how much time has passed, and any events which primarily center the side characters are glossed over because she’s not directly involved. I also had some smaller issues with Walker’s style (For example, I find her approach to sex to be really unpleasant to read), and all these issues combined detracted from my enjoyment of the book a bit. That being said, the ideas and emotions at the heart of this are excellent, and that rock solid core carried this book through some of the rougher patches. All in all, it wasn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be, but I do understand why it’s a modern classic and would recommend it to anyone interested. 

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ladyfie's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0


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watt's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-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


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avocadotoastbee's review

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I am speechless. The Color Purple is incredible. I couldn't put the book down. Alice Walker is a genius. The emotions I felt while reading it ranged from deep sadness and shock to gratitude and relief.
It brings attention to so many incredibly important issues: sexual violence, poverty, inequality, and so much more. At the same time, it beautifully shows how women can stick together, grow with our pain, and still love and be loved after all our traumatic experiences.
The deep love Celie and Nettie have for each other as sisters reminded me of my sibling and me.
I'm so glad the story had a happy ending, I couldn't have handled anything else.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker is such an important classic and definitely a must-read!

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