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A review by penguinna
Beloved by Toni Morrison
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
This book will scare you to death. It will make you shiver like no horror book ever has. Because this story is real. And it hurts.
Post-Civil War Ohio. The main character, Sethe, has escaped slavery and endured unimaginable horrors to achieve her freedom. Many years later, she lives in Cincinnati with her mother-in-law, her daughter, and the ghost of a baby girl who bled to death in Sethe’s arms – Beloved.
When Paul D, a fellow slave from the Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky, arrives at Sethe’s home, they try to build a future together without confronting the past they shared many years ago. Paul D keeps his red, red heart in a tobacco tin he wears around his neck. And above all, he is terrified of opening it.
The writing style of this book is a treasure. Every character in the story – Sethe, Paul D, grandmother Baby Suggs (holy), Sixo, Halle, and Stamp Paid – has gone through hell during their years of slavery. None of them wants to talk about it, and none of them wants to relive it, even in their memories. As a reader, you are desperate to know what happened in the past, what it is they barely mention, and you're unsure if they'll ever reveal it. But they always do. And when they do, you wish they hadn’t.
This book hurts. A lot. I thought I would finish its 275 pages in one sitting, but it took me almost a month. The raw truth about the horrors of slavery is too much to bear. I had to stop reading countless times because I couldn’t continue. I was too scared of the unforgivable horrors the characters were yet to face.
This book is excellent. It is a pure masterpiece that everyone must read. However, it’s one of those books that are hard to recommend. Beloved will stay with me forever, in my own tobacco tin, kept close to my heart.
Beloved
You are my sister
You are my daughter
You are my face; you are me
I have found you again; you have come back to me
You are my beloved
You are mine
You are mine
More reviews by me on instagram: @penguinna_books
Post-Civil War Ohio. The main character, Sethe, has escaped slavery and endured unimaginable horrors to achieve her freedom. Many years later, she lives in Cincinnati with her mother-in-law, her daughter, and the ghost of a baby girl who bled to death in Sethe’s arms – Beloved.
When Paul D, a fellow slave from the Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky, arrives at Sethe’s home, they try to build a future together without confronting the past they shared many years ago. Paul D keeps his red, red heart in a tobacco tin he wears around his neck. And above all, he is terrified of opening it.
The writing style of this book is a treasure. Every character in the story – Sethe, Paul D, grandmother Baby Suggs (holy), Sixo, Halle, and Stamp Paid – has gone through hell during their years of slavery. None of them wants to talk about it, and none of them wants to relive it, even in their memories. As a reader, you are desperate to know what happened in the past, what it is they barely mention, and you're unsure if they'll ever reveal it. But they always do. And when they do, you wish they hadn’t.
This book hurts. A lot. I thought I would finish its 275 pages in one sitting, but it took me almost a month. The raw truth about the horrors of slavery is too much to bear. I had to stop reading countless times because I couldn’t continue. I was too scared of the unforgivable horrors the characters were yet to face.
This book is excellent. It is a pure masterpiece that everyone must read. However, it’s one of those books that are hard to recommend. Beloved will stay with me forever, in my own tobacco tin, kept close to my heart.
Beloved
You are my sister
You are my daughter
You are my face; you are me
I have found you again; you have come back to me
You are my beloved
You are mine
You are mine
More reviews by me on instagram: @penguinna_books