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Dana (24 KP) rated Beloved in Books

Mar 23, 2018  
Beloved
Beloved
A.S. Byatt, Toni Morrison | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry
8
6.9 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
I had to read this book for my craft of fiction class. This was my first time reading it, but we were able to look at it as more than just plot, and more about how it was written and why it was written that way.

There are spoilers, so read at your own risk.

I very much enjoyed this book. I loved this view into a post slavery world filled of women who have to deal with the grief that has followed them throughout their lives. Sethe, though she has made her mistakes in her life, is still a sympathetic character who relies on her grief to survive through what she has done. Her daughters are strong women in their own rights. Beloved, being childlike and taking out her rage of her death on her mother and her family through stealing the attention and food for herself. She isolates, makes it so the others feel death hanging over themselves to understand her pain.

The format, being more stream of consciousness and not a cohesive, linear narrative, lends itself well to the magical realism of this book. This is nothing like a Harry Potter type of magical realism though. This is steeped in the tradition of former slaves, magical in their beliefs of the world and the afterlife. Not the people being able to control magic, but allowing it to be a real thing in their lives either way.

I really liked this book. If you want to understand why, check it out for yourself.
  
40x40

Hazel (2934 KP) rated Prime Deception in Books

Jan 12, 2018  
PD
Prime Deception
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I really don’t know what to say about this book to be honest! I thought I was going to be reading a good thriller but instead, it turned out to be an in-depth exploration of grief and guilt with a bit of thriller thrown in.

The story was interesting but could have been so much more than that; I felt there was way too much emphasis on the feelings of the main characters, which got boring quite quickly, and not enough development of the crime/thriller aspect of the story. The first third of the story was good, the second third was boring and the last third was when the tension developed but this was over very quickly.

Full review - http://haziegaze.blogspot.co.uk/