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A review by brooketreads
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Umm, hmm.
Thoughts…
1. I hated Fonny’s dad. The way he treated his wife and daughters… domestic violence… telling them they should sell their bodies to get their brother out of jail… that was wild. Literally, Fonny’s mom and sisters just seemed like they were just written in to have characters to hate.
2. I was mostly on board with Sharon going to Puerto Rico until, she was basically strong arming the woman and demanding “you didn’t see him until you saw him in the line up” and trying to play on her emotions felt really wild and insensitive too. I didn’t like it at all.
- I think this swings around to the fact that the women were not written well or with any kind of depth - even Tish. I knew nothing about her other than being in love with Fonny.
3. The characters and situations seemed to be getting worse and worse through the book. Which I mean maybe product of the circumstances… but I still felt like some of it was too far.
4. Then the ending…!! I wanted to know that Fonny and Tish end up happy together, but I also get stories don’t always get nice and neat happy endings.
Thoughts…
1. I hated Fonny’s dad. The way he treated his wife and daughters… domestic violence… telling them they should sell their bodies to get their brother out of jail… that was wild. Literally, Fonny’s mom and sisters just seemed like they were just written in to have characters to hate.
2. I was mostly on board with Sharon going to Puerto Rico until, she was basically strong arming the woman and demanding “you didn’t see him until you saw him in the line up” and trying to play on her emotions felt really wild and insensitive too. I didn’t like it at all.
- I think this swings around to the fact that the women were not written well or with any kind of depth - even Tish. I knew nothing about her other than being in love with Fonny.
3. The characters and situations seemed to be getting worse and worse through the book. Which I mean maybe product of the circumstances… but I still felt like some of it was too far.
4. Then the ending…!! I wanted to know that Fonny and Tish end up happy together, but I also get stories don’t always get nice and neat happy endings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content