Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

51 reviews

katerinatroyanovich's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Oh. My. God.  Beloved is a heartbreaking, poignant, horrific view into the shameful legacy of slavery in the United States. Written like poetry and haunting in every way, I took my time with this book. I wish I read it with a book club so we could dissect passages together so I would recommend at least reading this with a buddy. Sometimes it was so dark it was difficult to read (the iron bit, among many other things, is so upsetting - I had no idea this was a thing) but I’m so glad I did. A must read for Americans. This book deals with themes of generational trauma, collective and individual pain, living in the past, being unable to move forward, and the power of community healing and support all wrapped up in a bit of a ghost story. I will absolutely read Morrison’s other works now. She has such a unique writing style and voice! It is easy to see why this is a classic.

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bigteo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.5

The only reason I’m not giving this five stars is because I’m really strict to reserve it for books that won’t leave my mind for weeks or months afterwards. That being said, I think this is a really important book and something a lot of people should read provided they can stomach the dark themes.

Above all, this is a book about trauma. It’s obvious that every single part of the characters’ present lives are dictated by the trauma of slavery. It’s so much more than a ghost story. That part is almost irrelevant to the book. I feel like that’s important to say since I myself went into the book with the expectation of the “ghost” part to be a lot more present. It’s not a thriller ghost story. The horror doesn’t come from the paranormal, it comes from real life events that real life people had to suffer through, which is far more horrifying. 

The writing style is amazing. It reads like a train of thought, which can get confusing at times, but that’s probably all on me. I didn’t really like the main characters, except Denver. I feel like that’s something a lot of people will say. For example, it’s obvious that Sethe is deeply flawed and that her decision (spoilers, I won’t say) is morally bad. Does that mean she deserves to be cut off from the society and effectively punished for 18 years? Denver certainly doesn’t. I just felt really bad for Denver and how she was held back from things like education because of the family’s bad omen that Sethe brought upon them. The characters being perhaps a bit unlikeable is only because of deep flaws that serves for an extremely interesting read. They all felt like real people.


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realesttorturedpoet's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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st_ella_r's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0


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ssummar's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75


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viporras's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0


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katariinatoivanen's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.25


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inkyinky's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This is THE American novel. If there’s one book you read before you die, let it be this. 

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ashybri's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0


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mmccombs's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I probably can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said about this book, but it was just absolutely phenomenal. Innovative, genre-bending, and beautifully written, I couldn’t put this book down. I started it on Halloween because all I knew going in was that it was a “ghost story,” and it is that but also so much more. It’s about the past and the future, about trauma and reconciling your sense of self amidst that trauma, what it means to be a mother, a man, and a sister when the people you love are taken away from you. This is my first Morrison but it certainly won’t be me last!

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