Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

230 reviews

madisone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Minor: Blood and War

annemaja_ph's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Pregnancy

staceys_adventure's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

marinafaraujo's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Violence

daydr3am's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is very emotional and heartbreaking. Throughout the story there are multiple points which may be hard for some. Actually the entire book is not an easy so beware. I enjoy the rawness and the connection that were built despite actions of others. Sisterhood and love and trauma make this book and its movie one of my favorites.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

klaraax's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-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: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

oonareads's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

nafisa_tabassum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple' is a challenging book to read. It doesn't shy away from the diversely dark parts of oppression and abuse. The novel's tone, much like the main narrator Celie, is straightforward and blunt about misery or violence. But that's also the charm of it. Celie is familiar with abuse and pain, so she describes it as it is. She does the same with moments of joy or transcendence. So ultimately, the book is rewarding and hopeful.

The novel has a very clear vision about being black in an oppressive America, a situation that is nuanced and complex. I appreciated that the book attempted to tackle so many stories - its range is vast, even traveling to Africa in a portion of the book that was heart-wrenching and beautiful. It sheds light on the continued colonization of Africa, something that is still an issue today. It is incomparably informative and insightful.

The heart of the book however is an understanding of 'God', which it approaches in a mostly non-religious way. We see different characters interact with this idea and, in the end come to their separate but interconnected conclusions about what that means for them. In all cases, that understanding comes through introspection, love, family and pain. Celie begins the book by addressing God as an abused, neglected child. In letters that don't really read like letters but guide the narrating voice, defines the subject and the audience, 'God' runs like an undercurrent though the entire narrative.

Minor spoiler -  

It surprised me when it came up, and it was a delight. Celie is an unapologetic lesbian and it's a big part of her journey. It doesn't focus on queer pain, which was odd considering how the novel doesn't shy away from all other types of pain. It's not on me to really say if the book would be improved by discussing it or why Walker did not address homophobia at all in the novel. Lesbian love is a transgressive force in the story, but it's not questioned. Maybe I'm missing some context, or maybe Walker did not want to dive into something she wasn't as familiar with. I don't know, but it was still nice to see it explicitly and beautifully depicted.

All in all, 'The Color Purple' is a must read. It's a story that needs to be heard an understood in a world that often denies the pain of oppression.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.0

Thematically this is a really good book; however, narratively, it's not as strong as I expected it to be. The way Walker has chosen to frame the story creates both a slight emotional distance from the characters and a very narrow window through which the reader can view the events taking place. The timeline is a little hard to follow because the story dips in and out without any acknowledgement from Celie of how much time has passed, and any events which primarily center the side characters are glossed over because she’s not directly involved. I also had some smaller issues with Walker’s style (For example, I find her approach to sex to be really unpleasant to read), and all these issues combined detracted from my enjoyment of the book a bit. That being said, the ideas and emotions at the heart of this are excellent, and that rock solid core carried this book through some of the rougher patches. All in all, it wasn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be, but I do understand why it’s a modern classic and would recommend it to anyone interested. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Drug use, and Alcohol