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arcadering's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Bullying, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
littlebrittofthis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Morrison is a powerhouse of showcasing the hard realities no one wants to face in such a way that we must always be confronted with it. Never, in a Morrison novel, are we allowed to forget what the central problem is. There is no lull into some false sense of security. There is only facing the harsh reality and the consequences of how we choose to deal with it.
This novel has been banned across schools in the U.S. since 1999 and continues to be. While I say this is an amazing read, there are heavy trigger warnings that everyone should check before picking this up. If working through this book, has taught me anything about the way we try to filter what we want society to be — whether it be through banning books that make us uncomfortable or through ostracizing people we classify as Other because they make us afraid — it’s that doing so has nothing but horrendously negative results. Pecola’s story is fiction, but just how fictitious is it, really? And what does it mean when we won’t listen? What does it mean when we won’t look her in the eye?
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, Classism, and Hate crime
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Incest, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
tessazwaan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Rape, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, and Incest
jessalex610's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual violence
Explicit: Very blatant colorism, estranged father rejecting child, incest rape,aleksanski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Incest, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Abandonment, Bullying, Abortion, Death of parent, and Miscarriage
Minor: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
esther_5's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Misogyny, and Miscarriage
iarlais's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Claudia and Frieda are sympathetic protagonists, but it is Pecola who is the true center of the story. Pecola's well-woven and crushing tale serves to show us the horrifying levels of abuse that permeated the civilisation that she inhabited. The abuse that she received was born out of the racism that reigned over every aspect of American society, from the films that Pauline viewed to the dolls that the three girls looked at. This novel examines this hatred and how it comes to be accepted by many of the characters, how they have unquestioningly internalized it and directed their anger not back at their racist systems and country, but at the ones even further below them in society, like black girls.
In doing all of this, Morrison packs the book full of character, creating human characters with realistic faults. She shows how some of these faults were forcefully impressed as opposed to them being developed, and how the impacts they have on minds lead to horrific consequences. She shows just how all-powerful American racism is by presenting its presence in all aspects of its society, and makes it clear that oftentimes people will not triumph over it. Such a malevolent, pervading force very much can break its victims, to the point that they can't come back.
The book is not without its flaws - in my opinion, it could have had a stronger impact had it been longer (Morrison herself notes in an afterword that most people were "touched - but not moved), and I think that its shortness results in most of the characters seeming underdeveloped, as The Bluest Eye has many, and not all can share the spotlight. And yet, it's still a beautiful, depressing, and genuinely important novel that gives a voice to the voiceless.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Rape
Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny
Minor: Bullying
shoshin's review against another edition
- 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
I can see why this book has been banned, and while I'm very much against banning books, this one would need careful and thoughtful discussion with teens who read it. I was especially disturbed by
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Racism, Incest, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Bullying, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage and Child death
nohousekey's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Racism
Moderate: Pedophilia
cereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Slavery