Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

41 reviews

michaelion's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

I can confidently say: I was touched. I don't know if I was moved, but in another life I'm sure there's a version of me, either in another universe or that lives hidden in the back of my own mind now, who would have weeped. Maybe I was moved. I get it. I think I know what that feels like.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Violence, Abortion, and Murder

wormgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Slavery

Moderate: Cursing, Incest, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

cass_nobody's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Murder, and Abandonment

katreadstoomanybooks's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

I read the first third and listened to the rest on audio.  I highly recommend the audiobook, since it is read by the author Toni Morrison.  Her voice takes some getting used to (she’s not a professional voice actress).  It’s a beautiful story about a family.  There’s a lot of symbolism.  Some parts were slow but I enjoyed it for the most part overall.  Morrison proves again that she is excellent at character development and running themes/motifs.

The foreword had a really poignant description of why she wrote the novel.  After her father died, she lost part of herself.  “He had a flattering view of me as someone interesting, capable, witty, smart, high-spirited. I did not share that view of myself, and wondered why he held it. But it was the death of that girl—the one who lived in his head—that I mourned when he died. Even more than I mourned him, I suffered the loss of the person he thought I was.”  This novel is how she found herself again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Murder

ramonaleanna's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The best part of Morrison's novels, to me, are the fact that her characters are so deeply and authentically flawed and, all the while, she makes it so easy to feel compassion and empathy toward them as she weaves the past into the present. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

samchase112's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.

Toni Morrison is a freaking genius. This book has so many details, is it ever possible to get tired of figuring it all out? If you want a review of this book, I suggest checking out the 1000-million scholarly articles written about each minuscule word and space and character. Dive deep, so you can fly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Incest, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Abortion, and Abandonment

Minor: Racism

chalkletters's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

One of my university modules was on Toni Morrison, so I read quite a few of her novels over the course of a single semester, which has meant that — apart from Beloved, which I read first — they’ve kind of blurred into an amorphous mass in my memory. I wanted to revisit them, more slowly, so that I’d have a more distinct understanding of which book was which. With Song of Solomon, all I really remembered was that it had something to do with flying and that I liked it better than some of the others.

What stood out to me the most about Song of Solomon was how complete it felt — it’s hard to know how to break it down into characters and plot and setting for a review. Even though I couldn’t pinpoint the structure of the story, it flowed naturally from one thing to another, even the events that might feel weird in another novel.

The characters are particularly strong, to the extent that I’m surprised I didn’t remember more about them. Milkman and Pilate are the primary focus, but Guitar and Corinthians and Macon are all interesting in their own way. Guitar’s subplot with the Seven Days is compelling by itself, let alone when it weaves into the main narrative.

Toni Morrison’s language isn’t difficult — it fits that adage that good prose should be transparent, letting you see the action without getting in your way. There weren’t any lines that stood out to me as particularly beautiful, but perhaps I was just too swept away in experiencing the story as it came.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

infantcrayon's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Rape

_lia_reads_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Murder

caidyn's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Toni Morrison does it yet again. I really enjoyed this read by her, although it was hard at times. It takes a very different focus than her books usually do. It's all about Black men, fathers and sons, male friendships, etc. I really enjoyed it and it's one of her better ones that I've read. I was drawn in from the moment it started and the journey of the read was fantastic. Morphing male relationships over the years, plus a family legacy that's lacking because of slavery and no one knows the full story of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder