Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Beloved by Toni Morrison

11 reviews

blep's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Um. Holy shit? No wonder Toni Morrison got a Nobel prize. This is a master at work

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Slavery, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Trafficking, and Child death

sailorpunk's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

kristinebraley's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

This book was beautifully written and narrated by the author. The story was brutal and difficult and that was part of the beauty, especially following the story arc of the character called Denver. There were many lovable characters, hate-able as well.  The magical realism was masterfully written. I will most likely have to read this with my own eyes in order to grasp a few of the more esoteric scenes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Slavery, Torture, Infidelity, and Racism

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

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

fiveapplesstall's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Body horror, Rape, Slavery, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

balfies's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Child death, Death, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Blood, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Gore, Genocide, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Abandonment

chen1194's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Torture and Death of parent

Minor: Trafficking and Adult/minor relationship

ekmook's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Death, Child death, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Toxic relationship

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