Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

7 reviews

morenowagain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Police brutality, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Suicide, Racism, Alcohol, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gun violence, Incest, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, and Stalking

momogajo's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

Once you get past the first few chapters it picks up. I didn't think that the book was for me until I sat with it for a while. It has some central themes of family, friendship, and racism that the further splinters out into many other themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Sexism, Mental illness, Hate crime, Classism, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol and Drug abuse

purplehulk713's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.25

Stirring. Toni Morrison certainly knew how to construct wholly unique worlds with realistic racial values and constructs but also her own fictional, ”local” almost, patterns of living that give true character to her novels like Song of Solomon. I felt bad having to rush through it for school, especially since it was a book that we would not discuss for very long, though there a semester’s worth of material to unpack. Though there are definitely hateable characters like Macon Dead II, Milkman’s father, he is characterized so well over the course of the book that you come to empathize with him if not like him for all that he has experienced in his life. Names are incredibly relevant—Milkman, for example, whose name is not his given name, but as he is colloquially known, most likely because since he was born in whatever shape or form, anyone could see that he only sought life for what it could give him, sucking it dry as if it were a milk cow. This is why he forsakes Hagar, whose name literally means “forsaken”, and this is truly so relevant to her character because

she becomes so dependent on his approval of and desire for her that her ultimate realization that she will never have it kills her.

Even the book’s name is so relevant—an allusion to a biblical book of Jewish erotic love poetry, describing a depth of passion for another person without which neither one of them could live. Milkman never truly has this in his life, not with his family, with any of his girlfriends, or with his difficult-to-describe relationship with Guitar. It’s the sense of flight which he seeks the whole novel. The final mysteries including the origins of the Dead family, Shalimar, and the children’s song was so tantalizing both to read and to analyze. My favorite character was Pilate—I found her character most compelling for what I felt was her sincerity despite her position of sentencing (another emphasis on the relevance of names). I only did not give this book five stars because it does not totally click with me, you know? Maybe if I were to read it again. But anyway, will surrender to the air and take flight?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Pregnancy, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Incest, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, and Sexual content

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

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: Incest, Classism, and Domestic abuse

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

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

grantsharpies's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, and Incest

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is truly breathtaking. With every read I enjoy it as if it was the first time. The symbolism, metaphors, characters, and overall themes are simply perfect. Just a beautifully written representation of oral history, the pain Black women face, the loss of self, etc etc. perfect 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Slavery, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Racism, Violence, Death, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Stalking, Alcohol, Classism, and Cursing

Minor: Suicide, Abortion, Infidelity, and Torture

This book talks about the many aspects of pain and loss experienced during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras