Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

194 reviews

carojust's review

challenging mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This was intense, horrifying and beautiful. It is necessary reading on the evils of American slavery, and the uncertain period following emancipation, soaked in trauma and violence.

Toni Morrison wraps history with something unearthly, and has this amazing way of grounding you, and fighting your sense of reality on the next page. 

Stream-of-consciousness writing has always been difficult for me, so "Beloved" was challenging, sometimes a few pages in a sitting. If you have trouble with this, as well as indiscriminate POVs, I understand why it's not for you. But the magical, unique storytelling and the haunting, brave characters are well worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

oregonian329's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Slavery

readingelli's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: War

livreads16's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely devastating. I keep re-reading the last two pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Vomit and War

katerinatroyanovich's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Oh. My. God.  Beloved is a heartbreaking, poignant, horrific view into the shameful legacy of slavery in the United States. Written like poetry and haunting in every way, I took my time with this book. I wish I read it with a book club so we could dissect passages together so I would recommend at least reading this with a buddy. Sometimes it was so dark it was difficult to read (the iron bit, among many other things, is so upsetting - I had no idea this was a thing) but I’m so glad I did. A must read for Americans. This book deals with themes of generational trauma, collective and individual pain, living in the past, being unable to move forward, and the power of community healing and support all wrapped up in a bit of a ghost story. I will absolutely read Morrison’s other works now. She has such a unique writing style and voice! It is easy to see why this is a classic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation

chalkbard's review

Although Toni Morrison is undoubtedly one of the best American writers to have ever lived, her material is too dark and sad for my sensitive heart 😔. I really don’t want to conjure mental images of rape and murder :/ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Murder

orange_chocolate's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

m1nature's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A tough, but important read.
Intense and disturbing, but most of all full of truth.

It's not a book I would recommend to everyone, and it's not one I particularly enjoyed (although the writing was beautiful), but it's a story that made me think and consider how different decisions can be when life has been lived in a context that is so far flung from my own.

Thought provoking and moving and important.

Please make note of the trigger warnings before reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

tarajsharma's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

Absolute tour de force of a book. So well-written. Extremely confronting, but a really important story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

candacem's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Torture