Reviews tagging 'Death'

Paradise by Toni Morrison

5 reviews

michaelion's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.0

I keep finding myself speechless after reading Toni Morrison, so instead of saying "Girl, you did it again," I'll try to leave a proper review this time.

It's beautiful. You can feel where she wanted to go with this book, and the fact that where she wanted to go ended up changing as she wrote, and in Miss Morrison fashion the end is just as marvellous as her other work. I won't put spoilers but there are so many elements in this book that blend together so well, so wonderful, so black and beautiful...

The alternate name for the book War would not have been so fitting as the title of Paradise. The idea of paradise inherently comes with complication and the town of Ruby embodies that. The plights of the characters, even the climax and the ending. So black and beautiful. Miss Morrison girl, you did it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Classism, Abortion, Misogyny, and Infidelity

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, and Racism

Minor: Incest

tyyne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

This read so much like poetry, what a beautiful work of art. But it made it difficult to follow at times and slow to read. I would love to read it again some day to get a better grasp of it, but I’m not sure if I could handle going through all the heartache again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Child death

racheldelaney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.25

The way I absolutely ripped through this in four days is astonishing.

Placeholder until I can articulate a better review other than “sometimes it’s the roots that turn a bad crop and not the weather”. Wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Sexism

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and War

zombiezami's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Misogyny, Cursing, Alcoholism, and Sexism

Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Grief, Infertility, and Hate crime

War, Slut-shaming, Whorephobia, Abandonment

talypollywaly's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The book started off really strong and lagged a little in the middle, but really pulled me back in towards the end. Morrison's prose is fantastic as always. Some themes or motifs of the book were confusing, but overall the book was great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Death

Minor: Child death