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Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

51 reviews

marissasa's review against another edition

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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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patterson_cj's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

5.0

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clapyourshands's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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revisable4510's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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

4.0

favorite quotes:


She shook her head from side to side, resigned to her rebellious brain. Why was there nothing it refused? No misery, no regret, no hateful picture too rotten to accept? Like a greedy child it snatched up everything. Just once, could it say, No thank you? I just ate and can’t hold another bite?
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merle98'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? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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kylieqrada's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

Another book that I am woefully inept to review. Toni Morrison's books are modern classics, but Beloved is... transcendent. I guess I will start by saying that I don't do ghost stories. I am at a point in my life where I know what freaks me out and I don't need to expose myself to those things. This is most certainly a ghost story (not a spoiler, it's in the synopsis). And the ghost is scary. She's not a nice ghost. No Caspers here. However, I didn't feel the need to put this book down or not read it before bed at any point. I wasn't scared by the ghost. The rest of the story on the other hand... It's almost as though Ms. Morrison was trying to contrast the horrors of slave life with the horrors of living with a violent poltergeist. And for Sethe and Denver, the horrors and consequences of slave life were so, so much worse. There were innumerable other themes and topics explored in this book, and the narrative style was very unique, in Ms. Morrison's classic way. It took me much longer than usual to read a book of this length, due to the incredible complexity of the work and the different facets to explore. I'm sure I'm missing so much, but what I did grasp, I will be thinking about and ruminating on for a long time.  
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lou_o_donnell's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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pagesfromhome's review against another edition

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challenging reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Beloved was a reread for me this year and I still can't believe that a book this incredible exists in the world for us to consume whenever we'd like. There's a reason this is one of the few canonical stories that I would keep: no edits, no changes, no substitutions. I will always fight on the side of calling Beloved not just "a" but "the" great American novel.

While it can be an exceptionally difficult book to get through, it is well worth it. Approach with caution if you have sensitivities as it will burrow into your soul and won't leave for a while. 
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thechiaraface's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

This is a slow-paced, character-driven, literary fiction novel that is brutal, beautiful, and haunting. In case you don't know the premise of this novel, it is set in the 1870's and  follows Sethe a formerly enslaved woman, her daughter Denver, and a mysterious newcomer to their life who calls herself Beloved. This book could fall under so many categories: literary fiction, historical, gothic,  modern classic. It explores many complex themes/ideas including: the legacy of slavery, history, and trauma, freedom, the dangers of nostalgia, the ghosts of one's past, motherhood and a mother's love, just to name a few. 

In terms of the writing, this is perfection (5++⭐), it's just exquisite. I found this book compelling from the first page. And yet I am certain I did not 'get everything' in this book. It is not straight forward and is uniquely structured where the past and present kind of mush together. This book has a certain level of ambiguity and is very thought-provoking. With this book I think you need to think critically and try to get below the surface level story/plot and look deeper and look for bigger themes/ideas and the symbolism of various objects, people, places, and situations. I definitely felt in over my head at times (not my favorite feeling while reading) and I totally agree when others say you could read this over and over and get something new/more each time. This book is deep and complicated. This book also does not shy away from trauma and the horrors of slavery. This can make the book hard, painful, and gut-wrenching to read at times, but it shouldn't be ignored bacuse of those things either. It tells a really nuanced story of love and family too. Anyways, I highly recommend this book, if you need content warnings, please check those out before starting because this one has a lot of them. 

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apierlessbridge's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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
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