5.24.2011

The Help Book Review


I finished The Help last Wednesday and have to say that it has been one of my favorite reads in a long time.  I laughed, I cried, and I also cringed throughout the novel.  After dragging through The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help was a welcomed change. 

The book takes place through the Civil Rights in the 1960's and tells the story through three different narratives, Skeeter - a white college grad who belongs to a ladies society and wants to change the way "the help" is treated, Aibileen - a black maid to Skeeter's friend Elizabeth and confidant to Skeeter and Minny - a recently fired by the leader of the ladies society black maid with a strong personality.

I loved every one of the narratives and the different opinion and view they had to offer.  Aibileen - nurturing, cautious and brave.  Minny - defiant, hard-working and brave.  Skeeter - alone, creative, and brave.  When Skeeter witnesses horrible acts of racism in her city, she sets out to pursue her passion of writing while trying to make a change to the future with some help from the maids of Jackson, Mississippi. 

Without giving too much away, the book has moments of extreme happiness and moments where I was disgusted that all this happened a mere fifty plus years ago. You grow extremely attached to the cause and rooting for change and when I finished the last page, I was sad to be finished and had to remind myself that these characters although fictional, really existed back in the day, and left me wishing for their happiness. 

The movie comes out August 12th and you better believe I am hoping one of my gf's here in LA finishes the book in time to see it with me!  I just started The Hunger Games (rec'd from Pink Sass) and am already loving this series, more to come about that, but for now, check out the preview for The Help.


10 comments:

Alex said...

I'm about to read The Help. Your review certainly influenced my decision. The Hunger Games is fantastic and certainly raises a bunch of interesting questions. It was a great read.

http://louboutinsinlalaland.blogspot.com/

Kristen said...

it's definitely one of my favorite reads in a long time, i can't wait for the movie!

Coug Gal said...

So glad you loved The Help! One of my faves and I also can't wait for the movie!! The Hunger Game series is fabulous!

Anonymous said...

CANNOT wait for the movie!

Marian said...

I just finished this as well...and LOVED it!! My only complaint is that I wanted to know how everything turned out and what happened with everyone:)

Jaime @ laviejaime said...

SUCH an amazing book! I was so sad when it was over... can't wait for the movie!

Jessica said...

Can't agree more. The Help was fantastic and I cannot wait for the movie! The Hunger Game series was extremely difficult for me to put down!

amy b.s. said...

i loved this book and am excited to see how the movie is done. and i've heard nothing but amazing things about the hunger games, so i'll have to add that to my list soon!

Holly said...

agreed! im very excited to see the film.

and youre right about the lack of cheese, if i dont lose weight, somethings wrong!

Unknown said...

WoW! great film. . really can't wait to see it. .=)
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