Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

162 reviews

graecus_'s review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

i picked this up semi randomly during a trip to the library during creative writing and absolutely devoured it. i finished it in less than 36 hours. the characters are incredibly dynamic, and walker’s writing is incredibly immersive. i could not put this down

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy

kaffzillah's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Infidelity, Addiction, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Slavery, Mental illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Sexual content, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Murder

kodameansfriend's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

A masterpiece. Poetic, heartbreaking, uplifting and beautiful. I can't believe I'd never read this before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

kelinkc's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Incest, Pregnancy, and Rape

jennjoy's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Incest, and Sexual violence

buttercat42's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

An incredible book, but felt like the second half was a bit rushed

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Domestic abuse

hswhite's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

4.0

I’m glad I listened to this book as an audiobook, which was read by the author. The parts that would have dragged or seemed dull to read were easier to simply listen to. The character’s voice came through so clearly in the audiobook—it added another dimension to the story. I felt like I was just listening to Celie tell stories about her life. 

However, I was not prepared for the scenes of sexual violence the book opens with, and Walker doesn’t shy away from trauma. What she does well is show inter-generational trauma, grief, forgiveness, love, and eventually healing through the complex and evolving relationships between Celie and her family members. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Rape

kia_y_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Slavery, Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Drug use, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual content

taofeeqah's review

challenging 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? No

4.0

oh my god

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual violence

neverlandpages4's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

• From the very first page, I knew that this book would be a poignant, inspiring, and educational story. It explores racism, queer identity, friendship, family, and so much more.

• This is an epistolary book written in AAVE, the first half is written from Celie to God, and it explores Celie’s life and all the hardships she’s faced, the second half is Nettie’s letters to her older sister, Celie, and she describes what it was like becoming a missionary and traveling to Africa.

• It's also mainly literary historical fiction and it does focus on the characters more than the plot. I’m usually more of a plot person so I did find it a bit boring at the beginning but I’d say around the 30-40% mark it did get more interesting.

• Nettie’s letters made me really emotional, she talks about how due to her lack of education, she didn’t know anything about Africa and was surprised to meet other black people that were not enslaved and not working for a white family. It’s such a heartbreaking thing to read knowing that this was (and still is in some parts of the world) reality. That the color of someone’s skin determined whether or not they deserved to have basic human rights.

• I love how this book also explores misogyny and how some of the women stand up for themselves and question the “norm” that is misogyny and sexism during that time period, and fight to learn and get an education regardless of the horrible men that stand in their way.

• Celie made me laugh out loud many times, her character development was inspiring and I was so happy for her when she finally took charge of her life and started doing the things she loved.

• I’d highly recommend reading this!! Even if the genre isn’t something you usually read, it’s still an important book that explores so many difficult topics in such an honest way. There’s also a movie adaptation that I can’t wait to watch!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Sexism, Incest, Racism, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Body shaming, Drug use, Classism, and Grief

Minor: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Vomit