Reviews with content warning for Death - A Lesson Before Dying

This was difficult for me to rate. While it did have poignant moments and messages, much of the book was dull to read. I would give the last few chapters alone 5 stars and the rest maybe 2-3 stars. Jefferson's scenes were compelling, and the journal scene toward the end was touching (even though the writing style was hard to read). The rest of the book focused on Grant while exploring different aspects of Black life in 1940s Louisiana, including everyday discrimination, how they were expected to act toward White people, colorism, religion and even the food.

I would've liked the book more had it been trimmed by at least a third. It was repetitive and unnecessarily over-detailed at times. Some scenes could've been removed without affecting the story or diminishing the overall message. Also, the writing was underwhelming and most characters were flat. I didn't like Grant's selfishness and when he took his anger out on the students.

His decision not to show up at Jefferson's execution when given the chance low-key pissed me off.

I didn't care for the romance between Grant and Vivian either, and felt it was there for the sake of having one. I feel the author wrote this book to be adapted into a play or movie, given his focus on details like the color of each character's clothes or the way he wrote dialogue.

Content-wise this was a tough and depressing read. Even though I already knew what will happen to Jefferson, seeing his development and eventually opening up to Grant made me at times not want to reach the ending.

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aublyn105's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.5

4.5 stars.
This novel was incredible, slightly slow at times for me, I don't know if that's because I read it for school or not. Gaines is an amazing writer and I want to read more of his work soon. Amazing ending, I loved the characters.

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morrisimo's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.75

Jesus Christ this book was so sad. Very well written and paced, accessible, powerfully emotional. Deftly deals with race relations in 1948 Louisiana, questions of duty, purpose, believe, and humanity. Complex main characters and well written and interesting secondary characters. Descriptive and engaging. Devastating. Maybe a 4.75??? Not to devalue my 4.5 books, but this one really got to me.

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someonelikeblue's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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bubothereader's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring tense

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Gaines pointed out the utter absurdity of saying "god is with you" when you've been falsely accused of murder, then get killed for it.
Accurate display of the 40s US South.
This book is more about Grant's transformation, than Jefferson's.
Heart-wrenching, but ended the way it should to depict the injustice faced in the USA. You regret it just as much as everyone else.
Characters outside of Grant were weak.
This book is Black Lives Matter before BLM existed.
It's methodical on purpose; I really loved his take on god and bravery.

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parmtootz's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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luluslittlelibrary's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

one of the few books I had to read for school that I actually liked

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