Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

21 reviews

134340's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Cursing, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Incest, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship

lana_taylor23's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Incest, Death, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Minor: Misogyny, Police brutality, and Domestic abuse

hannaheinhorn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is my second time reading this book. the first time i read it i was in high school, and it completely changed my taste in literature as well as my outlook on life. revisiting it, i loved it even more. this novel speaks with all the appropriate nuance about what it means to decolonize one’s heritage and legacy. milkman is a heinous character, but through him the story of how women love is so eloquently told. i relate to lena a lot, as an oldest daughter with a middle sister and baby brother. i truly think anyone who has had to dive into their family’s history in order to heal will relate and love this novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Racial slurs, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, and Racism

kari_g's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

5 stars implies that I recommend it, and I really don’t. If you aren’t gonna tough it out, then it isn’t worth your time, but if you make it to the end, it’s truly life changing. I am better for having read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Incest, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide, Death, Terminal illness, Cursing, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Classism, Gun violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Vomit, Infertility, Rape, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Stalking

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Confinement, Alcoholism, Excrement, and Infidelity

zeldazonks's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Took me a little bit to get into it and then I devoured most of it in one sitting because Toni Morrison's writing is just so good. Incredible book. Felt a bit more accessible than Beloved and was less emotionally devastating, but still just so good. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gun violence, Grief, Death, Addiction, Murder, Incest, Animal death, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Racial slurs

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

“Everything bad that ever happened to him happened because he couldn’t read.” 
One of the most impactful  books I have ever read. Morrison always reminds me just how much power words can hold.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Abandonment, Death of parent, Incest, Racial slurs, Death, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Murder, Classism, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

vonhappy6894's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Murder, Racial slurs, and Stalking

kers_tin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, Incest, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Hate crime, Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Racism, Rape, and Suicide attempt

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Incest, Murder, Police brutality, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, Genocide, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Racism, and Rape

clara_mai's review against another edition

5.0

 What a brilliant, complex and powerful novel. While telling the coming-of-age story of the protagonist Milkman, how he grows up in Michigan and eventually moves from North to South in a hunt for gold and a discovery of his ancestry, Morrison also fans out the narrative and introduces about a dozen side characters. They and their stories, and relationships add layer after layer and the further you get into this story, the more connections are revealed to you, if you just read carefully enough. I definitly had to focus and work quite a bit to keep up the level of attention this book demands and it was quite a challenging read. The second half of the book was significantly easier for me and towards the end I coninued to be even more captivated than before. This is the first book by Toni Morrison that I read in the English original (I read an older German translation of Beloved last year and had a feeling that it did not do justice to the original, the newer ones might be better though) and it was such a pleasure to experience the beauty and power of her prose first hand. I won't even try to sum up all the themes and symbolism Morrison incorporated into this story and would instead suggest to everyone to pick up the book and embark on the absolutely wild and enriching journey that is Song of Solomon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Suicide