Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

129 reviews

viporras's review

dark reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, War, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, and Sexual harassment

bluecanarylite's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

Beautiful, powerful, haunting.  Not an easy read but worthwhile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Slavery, Racism, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, and Hate crime

artemisg's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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

Once you settle into the way this is written it is absolutely gorgous and heartbreaking and atmospheric. There are several different timelines with no introduction and several different points of view - complete with narrative changes (from third- to first-person POV with no preamble). Once you have a moderate handle on that, you can appreciate the absolute beauty of the writing style. Every word is used with such purpose, and he sentence structures and so intentional and beautiful.

They were not holding hands, but their shadows were.

This book follows Sethe, a resident of 124 Bluestone Road. The house holds her and her daughter, Denver, and the ghost of another daughter who dies in infancy. Paul D, a man from Sethe’s past as a slave, joins the house. Then, a a mysterious woman with unlined hands and dark, dark eyes turns up. She calls herself Beloved, the word engraved on the gravestone of Sethe’s dead daughter. Us readers, and the characters, try to decipher where Beloved came from, and if she is the spirit of the dead daughter or not. We fall in and out of love and fear with her. We also follow the lives of Sethe and Paul D when they were slaves at a farm called Sweet Home (it is anything but either of those things) before they escaped. It is brutal and vile and violent and hard to read. All of this is hard to read while being beautiful and smooth.

Clever, but schoolteacher beat him anyway to show him that definitions belonged to the definers - not the defined.

This book is am accomplishment and I am glad to have read it, and understood it as much as I could. Gorgeous prose, a heartwrenching story that I know is based in history, with lovingly crafted characters.

“Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Torture, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual violence

kendallreallyreads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

A beautiful and heartbreaking read. The brutality of slavery and its effects combined with breathtaking prose. It is a complex read and pushes the bounds of the literary format even decades after it was written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, and Child death

ctatu's review

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

rkorevenge's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

This was one of the most gut wrenching and beautifully written novels I have ever read. Sethe has a ghost story that will haunt you forever. Toni Morrison grabs your throat from the first page and chokes your hope right until the last line. Probably the most disturbing and important novel ever written. CHECK THE TRIGGER AND WARNINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Dementia, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, War, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexism, Child death, Colonisation, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Body horror, Self harm, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gore, and Sexual assault

mx_sunshine's review

dark mysterious sad 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

5.0

This took me over a month to read. It was really difficult to get through. I was left feeling stunned and empty at a lot of points. Toni Morrison is a fantastic author. She put so much into this book. I’m so grateful that she wrote it. I won’t ever be able to forget some of the striking images she described.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

b_easelbub's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Genocide, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Grief, Slavery, Child death, Child abuse, Torture, Death, Blood, Violence, and Gore

artis_meretrix's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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 an amazingly written book that required adaption to the screen. No one ever told me Toni Morrison writes horror!! This book was amazing. One of those books you can re read repeatedly and always find something new. Hella recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

allyreadabook's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

An achingly beautiful portrayal of love, trauma, and how we survive in its wake. There is no way to describe this book with words that come near to being worthy of Morrison’s own  stunning prose. This book grabbed me by the heart and refused to let go. Perfect doesn’t even come close to describing it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Racism, Sexual violence, Rape, Child death, Racial slurs, and Murder