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A review by rachaelm13
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I don’t know how to rate this. I can posed this book as “a story about a black girl who wants blue eyes and the beauty standards etc surrounding that conversation” I guess I wasn’t expecting so much other trauma and ped*philia in the book. It was just heartbreaking the whole way through and I was confused what pov we were in a lot of the time. I feel like there’s something I’m not getting or can’t read between the lines. Like I know somethings there I just can’t figure it out lol great representation on generational trauma I guess, and the more the book went on I was like is Pecola even that ugly? Which was probably thee/a point like things only exists because we believe/teach/learn/continue them. And after when she gets the eyes and everyone won’t even look at her, I was a little confused but I think its like, you are trying to be one of them? Or like now you are a “freak”? I don’t know I feel like I didn’t quite get it like I said earlier. Touched on colourism too which is intertwined with the whole blue eyes thing so that makes sense, I guess like eyeball colourism too? I need to read other reviews and come back.
Okay I’m back. I think my expectation was wrong going into this book, I needed to be prepared for a more character study type book that was going to be heavy. If I go into something with the wrong impression it impacts my reading experience and leads to confusion. If I knew going in to frame it as a character study book and not a story/traditional plot line book I would have enjoyed it more. That being said I felt like I couldn’t look away, it was short, I continued reading easily it didn’t put me in a slump. It was grossly engrossing. Haunting. Heartbreaking. I’m glad I read it but I don’t know, I don’t want to tone police black women, I just feel like this is almost in the books I categorize as trauma-porny but not quite cause this one had a message behind it, I just was deeply deeply disturbed and didn’t want to read the ped* sections. The point was to be disturbed but I’m not sure they needed to be that detailed but then again these people do exist in society we can’t pretend they don’t. I don’t know. I am conflicted and this book is burned in my memory for sure. Onto a lighthearted read
Okay I’m back. I think my expectation was wrong going into this book, I needed to be prepared for a more character study type book that was going to be heavy. If I go into something with the wrong impression it impacts my reading experience and leads to confusion. If I knew going in to frame it as a character study book and not a story/traditional plot line book I would have enjoyed it more. That being said I felt like I couldn’t look away, it was short, I continued reading easily it didn’t put me in a slump. It was grossly engrossing. Haunting. Heartbreaking. I’m glad I read it but I don’t know, I don’t want to tone police black women, I just feel like this is almost in the books I categorize as trauma-porny but not quite cause this one had a message behind it, I just was deeply deeply disturbed and didn’t want to read the ped* sections. The point was to be disturbed but I’m not sure they needed to be that detailed but then again these people do exist in society we can’t pretend they don’t. I don’t know. I am conflicted and this book is burned in my memory for sure. Onto a lighthearted read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Racism