Book Review: Beloved by Toni Morrison


I like to come into a book not knowing too much about what it is. Let me know the genre and maybe and maybe an inkling of the subject matter, but mostly I prefer to start reading with as few preconceptions as possible. I avoid reviews, I avoid synopses, I try not to look at it’s Goodreads rating. I want to start with a clean slate.

When I started reading Beloved I thought I was going to be reading a novel about a woman not long out of slavery and the struggles she faces. That is what Beloved is about, there’s no denying that. But it’s also about so much more than that. I thought I was going to be reading literary drama. It turned out to be more magical realism. Fortunately for me, magical realism is one of my favourite genres, so it was a win all around.

I’d mentally prepared myself for reading about the brutality and horror of what was done to slaves in that time and place. It was there, but at no time was it gratuitous or intended for shock value. It was a necessary part of the story, no more. 

Reading the prose felt like being on a ship at sea. It rolled smoothly and each wave brought with it a new part of the story. You’re rolled back and forth between time and place and person perfectly smooth and without noticing that it’s happening until it’s done. 

I enjoyed the story and I was engaged with what was happening, but I didn’t connect with the characters. I never really felt for them in difficult situations or celebrated with them during the good times. I always felt at a distance from them. I haven’t been able to unravel why this is the case, and I’m open to the idea that it might not be the author’s fault, but my reading of it that makes me feel like this. 

4 out of 5 stars

Beloved meets criteria nine for the 2018 Read Harder Challenge.

Have you read Beloved? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments below!

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