The Raven

I have finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett, if you couldn't tell by the title!

I couldn't put this book down. I sat for like 3 hours in the same spot on the couch when I should have been getting ready for bed and finished it. That's how good it was.

Out of all the characters, I don't think I had a favorite character. This happens in a lot of books I read. Characters have qualities that I like and those that I don't like.

Minny Jackson and Aibileen Clark:

The differences between these two powerful women were what I liked about them best. They equaled each other and cancelled each other out. Aibileen was there for Minny when Leroy would beat her and Minny was there for Aibileen when she was missing her son, Treelore.

I thought it was funny that Aibileen knew how to push Minny's buttons when she was trying to get Minny to help with Skeeter's book. It was like reverse psychology. And once Minny agreed to help, I don't think she ever really wanted to give up, no matter how many times she disagreed with Aibileen and Skeeter.

I would love to have a friend like Aibileen. I think I can safely say that if I had a nanny for my children (not a maid mind you because I can do my own housework and now I'm rambling), it would be Aibileen. She was the kindest, sweetest, yet most powerful character I've ever seen. Because of her, I now tell myself "You is kind, you is smart, you is important" because sometimes I have to remind myself of this.

Skeeter Phelan:

I felt really bad for Skeeter sometimes. I could tell her mother loved her but she had a bad way of showing it. It almost seemed like Charlotte Phelan was only worried about her daughter's image and not her feelings. She was concerned with Skeeter not having a boyfriend or dressing more like the girls around her.

Saying that Skeeter wasn't the prettiest kind of compared to me as well because I am not the prettiest around and yet I don't let that interfere with how I treat others and things like this. Skeeter did what she had to to change things around her because even though civil rights wasn't her aim, she could still tell that white families having black maids was a topic that interested/talked to her like Missus Stein told her.

I was kind of sad that we didn't get to know what happened to her in New York. And Stuart definitely did not deserve her. She deserved better and I was pretty irked that she kept thinking of him and wanting him back but was strong enough those first few times to not get back together with him. When the Whitworth family made the remarks about civil rights, that should have set her off, given her a tip off that this wasn't the family she wanted to be married into. I definitely wouldn't have.

Elizabeth Leefolt and Hilly Holbrook:

Other characters that made it really easy to hate them were Elizabeth and Hilly. I don't think I need to get into why I dislike Hilly altogether because that would be a long list of things. She was mean, hurtful, snide, just an all around bad person. I know that she was supposed to be like that and that was how the character was written, but I still wanted to reach in the book and shake her furiously.

I felt bad for Elizabeth but at the same time I told myself good riddance. Whatever happened to mother's intuition?? You don't just treat your child like that. I mean, it wasn't both kids that she treated horribly. It was JUST Mae Mobley (she was sooooooo adorable and I loved her). I think this was because having Mae was what caused her to have to grow up and take responsibility for something other than her looks. And she followed Hilly around like a lost puppy seeking to please someone. Oh please. She didn't deserve to have Aibileen as a maid.

There were other characters as well that I didn't like which were Stuart, Raleigh Leefolt, William Holbrook, and Leroy Jackson. All around bad guys. I wanted to like Stuart at first but he just became a jerk and his point of view made me want to gag. He was so focused on Patricia that he was just using Skeeter as a rebound. Poor girl.

Overall, this was one of the best books I've read in a while. Civil rights and segregation have always been an era that has interested me as a history nut so I was pleasantly happy with this book. Everyone should read it. There were so many details about it that linked in various civil rights events such as Medgar Evers, the march on Washington, the Woolworth sit ins, and others. 10 out of 10, definitely will read it again.

Next up is Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell!

Until next time!

The Raven