Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

12 reviews

jeggert10's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Violence, Child death, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, War, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual violence and Cursing

Minor: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Alcohol, Chronic illness, and Excrement

inkyinky's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This is THE American novel. If there’s one book you read before you die, let it be this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Murder, Physical abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Hate crime, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

honeybeewitched87's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Toxic relationship, Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Blood, Misogyny, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

eggfartz's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Torture, Violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, War, Alcohol, and Body horror

literaryinluv's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Racism, Rape, Death, Child death, Grief, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Abandonment and Physical abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Cursing, Abortion, and Blood

katiemeredith's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

This is my all-time favorite book. This book is for you if you love psychological horror/thrillers and challenging reading. Learning to read Morrison's narration is difficult but incredibly rewarding once mastered. This is a book that will truly make you understand the horror of slavery and its long-lasting effects on its victims. Pretty much every content warning imaginable is described in great detail, so be cautious if you are vulnerable to being affected by certain events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Cursing, Sexual assault, Murder, Child abuse, Racism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Child death, Death, Suicide, Rape, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse

mossgoblins's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Cursing, Alcohol, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Slavery, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual assault

vigil's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

toni morrison’s writing style can take a second to get used too, and occasionally came at the expense of understanding certain events, but i don’t see how a book like this could’ve been written any other way. 

certain authors would benefit greatly from reading toni’s work, and experiencing the ways she’s delved into the lives of black people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Slavery

katsbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

"That anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, or maim you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad you couldn’t like yourself anymore."

"...we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.” 

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

“You are your best thing”

I don't even know how to formulate my thoughts on this novel but I'm going to try. If you are a faster reader, like me, my best advice when reading this book is to slow down. This book is not meant to be inhaled in 1-2 sittings. The writing is gorgeous, obviously. Morrison won a Nobel for this book for a reason. However, there is so much symbolism and allegory that takes a hot minute to unpack. I am not ashamed to admit that I had to look up the SparkNotes for this book to understand some of the underlying symbolism. I'm incredibly glad I did because when I finished the book, I honestly felt let down. I felt confused and unsure of what I had read. I often found myself questioning whether certain passages were meant to be taken seriously. What would have helped me going in was understanding that there are two timelines. The one that begins when Paul D arrives at 124 ("present time") and the timeline told through flashbacks. There are two significant climaxes, one for each timeline. After the first one, I was really confused about where the rest of the novel could possibly be going just to get when the final climax occurred. I also wished I would have looked up some of the themes so I could have made more connections as I read. As soon as I understood how one of the major themes is how slavery destroys identity, so many things clicked for me. (And to be completely transparent, the fact that that theme didn't click for me until I saw it written out explicitly says a lot about my own privilege.) I completely understand why this novel receives as many accolades as it does. It is truly impactful but I don't think it's the type of book you can go into blind unless you have a really fundamental understanding of race and the generational trauma of enslavement. As a history teacher, I thought I "got it" but I think what I appreciate about this novel is how personal it made the history. It reminded me that it's not enough to sit around and intellectualize about the impacts of the horrors of history. This novel really makes you feel the very real personal implications of it and that is absolutely awe-inducing to me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

Beloved is deeply somber and at times painful. It's Toni Morrison's most well-known book and after reading it I can see why. It's full of tension and grief and symbolism, all reflecting to themes of how our pasts shape our present and future. It doesn't shy away from any of the harsh realities of slavery and how even for survivors of enslavement, their memories and trauma of torture will forever live within them even as they try to forge new identities as free colored people in their own communities. Sethe's past literally haunts her through the form of Beloved, a character that was fascinating in that she constantly bent the line between ghost of a dead child and reincarnation of a living child and as a reader you are left wondering which she is throughout the whole narrative. I am glad that I read this story and definitely want to continue reading Morrison's other books. The literary style and elegant writing she uses reflect her talent and free-thinking mind as an author who paved the way for Black writers and Black historical books to this day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Racial slurs, and Sexual content