A review by marissasa
Beloved by Toni Morrison

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

Beloved is deeply somber and at times painful. It's Toni Morrison's most well-known book and after reading it I can see why. It's full of tension and grief and symbolism, all reflecting to themes of how our pasts shape our present and future. It doesn't shy away from any of the harsh realities of slavery and how even for survivors of enslavement, their memories and trauma of torture will forever live within them even as they try to forge new identities as free colored people in their own communities. Sethe's past literally haunts her through the form of Beloved, a character that was fascinating in that she constantly bent the line between ghost of a dead child and reincarnation of a living child and as a reader you are left wondering which she is throughout the whole narrative. I am glad that I read this story and definitely want to continue reading Morrison's other books. The literary style and elegant writing she uses reflect her talent and free-thinking mind as an author who paved the way for Black writers and Black historical books to this day.
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