Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Beloved

Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Beloved by Toni Morrison

18 reviews

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

3.0

The rating has nothing to do with the book or the writing and has everything to do with my inability to understand it while reading. I struggled, but that doesn't mean this book is not good. Toni Morrison was a Nobel prize laureate for a reason.

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aisclaradm's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

Had to reduce my ratings of other books so that this one could stand out as probably the best book I’ve ever read, or close to it.

Bleak and chilling without descending into trauma porn, with an excellent plot. The prose is so beautiful that I had to adjust in my head what I understand “good writing” to be.

Overall a magnificent book.

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ehwesson's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This book was very heavy but a good rood. I am glad I read it.

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icegoddess09's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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pine_rhyme's review against another edition

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dark hopeful 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

5.0

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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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