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neverlandpages4's review
- 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!
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
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Child abuse, Confinement, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, War, Abandonment, Blood, Death of parent, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical content, Vomit, Bullying, Fatphobia, Genocide, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Violence
There are several relationships with notable age gaps.sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Additionally, while looking up information about the book while reading I discovered very recent and bizarre antisemitic comments that Alice Walker has made and I can't recommend reading a book by a living author who is out there recommending David Icke and Alex Jones.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Child abuse, and Misogyny
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Infidelity, Rape, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Medical content, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Grief, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Body shaming