The Help

I enjoyed this book. I read it first then saw the movie. I thought it was lovingly told.

I loved it too much! From the first page to the last one I couldn't stop reading it. Now I will like to see the film, I hope it is loyal to the book because it is extraordinary. Normally, I do not like open finals but these one is so good it nearly make me cry of happiness! :')

Entertaining, but I never got over a rich white woman trying to speak for black maids in the 60s. There were moments when I felt she captured the terror African Americans must have felt during the era, but for the most part it just felt like a nostalgic look back on her childhood. The detailed descriptions of all the domestic tasks left me wishing I had a full time maid, but that was about the only lasting impression.

Simply love this book.

I really enjoyed this book! There is one chapter toward the end that switches to third-person that really threw me off. I can't understand why this was done. Or rather, I do and I don't.
Warning: there is a long scene with a perverted naked man. Nothing is really gained by it. You'd be fine skipping over it.

5 stjärnor men jag grät inte? hur är det möjligt? att jag läser på jobbet bidrar nog till varför tårarna stannar inne, men detta är en solklar femma ändå. så vacker och viktig. perfekt balans med små cliff hangers så man bara vill fortsätta läsa. bra balans mellan bra och dåliga saker som händer. ögonöppnande.

“So we's the same. Just a different color.”

Geez, I had trouble finish this book. I think it's a brave move to write about racism from a priviliged side of story. Judging from the experiences that the author has first hand, I'd say that the story is pretty even accurate one even though this is supposed to be a fiction. Being POC myself I could relate to the hate you get because of the different color of your skin. It makes my blood boil just to read about it.

As a non-native english speaker I had quite hard time reading Aibeleen's point of views as they were written in a accent. But I loved her personality, how much she actually cared and all the bad things happened to her she wasn't vengeful towards anyone - always so calm, waiting for the moment she strikes back but she never did. She just went with her life like “it is what it is” and move to another chapter. I think that's what makes the book so good and so real for this.

The bittersweet ending.

I absolutely loved this book! I must admit I was a little uncomfortable with the stereotypes and a lot of the language used, mostly because it's coming from a white author, but I realise that was necessary and realistic and it really got the point across and I think Stockett did a surprisingly good job considering.

One complaint that I have is that I feel as if the one white character took up a lot of space. I understand how important Skeeter was to the plot and I really liked her but I do feel her chapters were much longer than Minny's and Aibileen's and were filled with a lot of unnecessary information.

But I have to commend Stockett for the story and the characters she brought to life. I was so invested in absolutely every character, even the evil ones! I loved Minny, she was easily my favourite! I especially loved her smart mouth, how courageous she was, the way she looked after everyone in spite of herself, and the way she cared about Celia in her own way really warmed my heart.

Aibileen was the heart and soul of the story. The way she helped garner maids for Skeeter, when both she and Minny encouraged Skeeter to go to New York, the way she looked after and encouraged Mae-Mobley and the affirmations she would recite to her daily, and the way she handled Minny and really understood her. I loved their friendship the most of all.

Skeeter was great too, even though I do believe she had selfish reasons of writing the book in the beginning. As the story went on you could really tell how she came to free herself of earlier thinking, I loved when she saw how nasty Hilly was and questioned why she was ever friends with someone like that and I loved when Skeeter had a moment of clarity and truly understood what her own book was about.

And I loved seeing Ms Hilly backed into a corner by the scheming done by the trio, especially Minny, I do wish I got to see more of a comeuppance for her but in the real world I know that wouldn't happen and I appreciate that things were done realistically.

I like to believe in my hearts of hearts that after the open ending everything went well for Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter and for my own sanity I will ignore everything that says otherwise.

DNF @ 40%ish

I just can't bring myself to carry on with this one - it's too long, too slow and I already know what's going to happen from seeing the film so feel the intrigue is gone.

This has been on my ‘to be read' pule for a very long time. The Help is probably one of my favourite movies so I had really big expectations for this book.

It's one of those books that I believe will think about for a very long time. I really enjoyed this and can't find the words to properly articulate my thoughts and feelings on it so I am just going to say that I will definitely revisit this in the future.

Občas mi přišlo, že se autorka do AAVE trochu zamotala a byla nekonzistentní, celá ta romantická podlinka u Skeeter mi přišla zbytečná a nepochopila jsem, proč tam byla. ( Jakože když pomáháš minoritám, tak to má dopad i na tebe? idk ) Jinak moc pěkné ♥

I rated the book based on my enjoyment of the story and it did touch on some uncomfortable truths, like any book about race should. But, I felt really iffy about the fact that it was written by a white woman. In the acknowledgments, she basically admits that no research was done to get any perspective from anyone who worked in these roles or survived the pre-civil-rights era. I think there's still a benefit to keeping these issues in the public mind regardless of the speaker, but I felt guilty about it. It's like they said about Skeeter's book, that a white woman is benefiting from the stories of black women. So, I'll now be seeking a more authentic story to round things out.

Wow!!!! This really, Really is a Powerful book, and deserves to be read by everyone!!!!

I enjoyed it. I think it's good work of fiction, but I don't think it should be taken as an actual insight into the lives and minds of black women at the time.

The Help was in my TBR for so long and finally, I read it.
I personally love anything with a female protagonist, keeping my biased side aside there is a lot to like in this book, from characters to the storyline.
It's about the time when colored people were not slaves but still fighting for an equal place in society.
the story revolves around two colored women who were serving white families and a White girl who had a close relationship with her Maid decided to write a book about the Maids.
this starts the friendship, shows the struggles and emotions of a person who is asked to use a different toilet based their color.

Full review and rating to come

Amaze

I loved EVERYTHING about this book! Would definitely recommend it to everyone ^_^

This is an entertaining and also poignant story of courage in the face of racial oppression in Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. During the Jim Crow days prior to and on the precipice of the Civil Rights movement, the black housekeepers and maids raised the children of elite white families and cleaned their houses. However, they were expected to use a separate bathroom (“Negroes carry different diseases from white people”), eat from separate dishes, and refrain from opinions on racial inequality. Crossing boundaries could lead to fines or imprisonment, or even death. It is from these indignities that “the help” are aided by a budding, brave, young white journalist named Skeeter.

Told in separate voices in alternating chapters–Abileen, Minnie (two black maids), and Skeeter–the author is able to give an unvarnished view of social injustice and the individual lives it affected in the Deep South. Through Skeeter's clandestine meetings with twelve black maids, the stories of their lives are culled covertly from in-depth interviews with these women. Over a period of several months, she sets out to complete an intrepid but protectively anonymous profile of a town and time under siege of segregation. But she took some brazen risks by including material that was specific to Jackson and its inhabitants. Skeeter plans to submit her finished book to an agent in New York, risking alienation from friends and family and even criminal prosecution if her identity (and the identity of the maids) is discovered.

I am extremely behind the times with this one because I am reading it way after all the hype has settled but I loved it. if you read the authors note at the end of the book then you know that the author had a maid she was very close to, and that wraps the story up even tighter for me. I love authors who can make something so relatable that I can not put it down.

I was conflicted

brilliant

A much better book than I expected. From the reviews I had read, it seemed as if it would be just another one of those how the white man(or in this case, woman) saved those poor African-Americans. This would be true were it not for the characters of Minny and Aibileen. They are the true strength of this book, the backbone and the heart. Miss Skeeter is just a vessel, who's character doesn't develop much over the course of the book. But Minny and Aibileen are fullly-developed women who have a strength that cannot be denied.

However, the book does come off as heavy-handed and the patois used by Minny and Aibileen is disappointing, especially because there are sections highlighting how proper Minny is supposed to speak, yet Stockett seems to forget that a page later.

Overall, many have said that it is about white women and men. It's not, it is about three women, one white, two black.

When I initially purchased this audiobook, I didn't realize it used multiple readers for the various characters. For the most part, with one notable exception, they all did an excellent job, and the different voices added a lot to the reading.

I decided to read this book after having watched the movie. While their are a lot of things in the book that were skipped over for the movie, I don't find that makes the book better. The book and movie each stand alone, and serve different purposes. The movie does a better job at telling a tightly plotted story with a point. However, the book does a better job at painting a true, full picture of the characters and setting. But for the most part, if you enjoyed the movie, you'll like the book just as well, for different reasons. If you enjoyed the book, give the movie a try; it doesn't mangle the basic story at all.

Very good story, great characters. Was a very interesting look at a difficult subject.

An extraordinary book. Kathryn Stockett has succeeded in weaving three characters' stories in a masterful fashion. Not only is this book a page turner, but it also deals with a very important subject -race relations in the 60s.