Kathryn Stockett

Originally published: New York: Amy Einhorn Books, 2009.

The Help

In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another.

Amna A.

Seldom has a book been able to control my emotions like this one. From tears and goosebumps to laughter. Such an inspirational book.

Vicky  Nuñez 

The hype around The Help was so big, I could not help but wonder if it really was so good. Quite a few times I find myself wondering why did certain book is so popular when (in my opinion) it wasn't that great.

With The Help I can genuinely say I enjoyed every single word. I was moved & amazed with the ease of the writing & the story in a way I which could happen with every single book I read.

I know everyone has different taste, but I think this book is definitively worth a shot.

Annika Arguemore

It was a good read in the best sense of the phrase. I am awfully sorry that it took me this long to absorb this book. It was compelling to the point that I did not stop reading this book which is an achievement enough in itself. This book deserves much more praise than I am giving it.

Melissa Palmer

This book was an incredible read. Skeeter wants to interview the "help"--the African American women who are housekeepers and maids for the Southern women. They tell their stories--of their lives, the lives of those they work for and the troubles that all face--and it makes an impact. Loved, loved this book.

Lara Engle

I can see problems with this and I acknowledge the problematic nature of a privileged white woman from Mississippi writing a book that has black women as 2/3 of the perspective. But I honestly enjoyed it and I believe it brings to light some things that many people don't consider about the Jim Crow South. For me, as someone who was born after the civil rights movement of the 1960's, it shows me a world I never experienced from either side, a world that seems impossible and absurd. My favorite parts of this book are the women, the care they show for one another, and the bravery they find in the face of very real threats. My hope is that we can all find ways to care for each other and be brave enough to challenge what we know is wrong.

Peggy Walker

Excellent debut novel which gives a perspective on life in the "Deep South" during the birth of the Civil Rights movement. It can be hard to write in several different voices, but Ms Stockett did a terrific job. I grew up in California, but got a glimpse of a completely different world when we visited my Southern relatives back in the day. I was shocked by the idea of "Black" and "White" drinking fountains, etc. in public places. I also found it very interesting how much peer pressure there was to "belong" among young white housewives and how much power could be wielded by one vindictive individual. Recommended.

Briar's Reviews

I wanted to read this book ever since high school. I was in a group that read 1984, but one of the other English groups got to pick up The Help. They raved on and on about how it was the best book to pick, but I wasn't convinced. For me as a reader, I was totally right.

This book felt super over hyped to me, and made me feel kind of icky reading it. The book was made at a different time, so it felt like it didn't hold up for me. With BLM going on, this book just made me feel sketchy. Sure, it brings up some good comments about how these women and men were treated, but it just felt... wrong. 

It's so strange, because Kathryn's Stockett's writing is fabulous. I think she knows how to write a really good book, but the topic felt off putting. In my personal opinion, there are other authors from different backgrounds who would be better suited to write this book. Also, white saviour moment... it made me feel really gross and uncomfortable as a reader, but I wanted to finish it.

The way the book is written threw me off. It is written in the accents, where the pronunciation is literally written into the story. I have never enjoyed stories that do that, but that's a personal preference. It almost felt like the Help was being made fun of, even if they weren't. 

I want more stories from authors who have this experience, or are directly tied to it. The author had a member of the Help in her household back in the day, but she wasn't one. It wasn't her Mother, her sister, or anyone super close to her. It just felt weird knowing who wrote this. Even if she is a good writer... it still felt off.

This story made me sad. Just so sad. So many bad things happened to every woman in this story, and some were just made to be plain evil. 

I had a final copy of this book and it had so many errors. That was just strange for me. Ruin was ruirrn, and other silly typos. It didn't affect my opinion of the book, but it was strange to find a book this well known and printed so often to have errors. Normally I don't get books like this having errors in it.

Two out of five stars.

Bekah Contreras

I think this book is.....eye-opening. It shows a person who’s never experienced hardcore racism how brutal it is. And how brutal other people can be as racists. It disgusted me to see how the white people in this book treated the black, but it proved that enduring racist remarks, actions, and feelings isn’t as easy as it seems. Additionally, it showed me that there are people, today even, who still treat people of different races that way and some still endure this type of racism. In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and was left guessing the outcome at every twist in the story.

Jenny Vuu

Very inspiring and has admirable characters

Jonathan Tysick

Hard to put down and hard to hold back the tears and the laughs. I loved the way Stockett wrote the book in the first person (except for one chapter) from the viewpoint of three characters. Fantastic.

Adelia French

Wynter

While The Help is well-written, I could not wait to be done with it. Yes, it ground on my nerves this much. It's the most self-congratulating, "let's-all-hold-hands", piece of brainwashing soap opera I've ever encountered. This book is so packed full of "sellable" ideas and cliches, that I despise the publishing execs that brought this out to light, because their eyes must have turned into dollar signs the moment the first draft hit their desks. It literally has a movie deal written all over it. And if Miss Stockett really wrote this story from her heart, then she is just as naive as her heroine Miss Skeeter. 

The Help is sugar-coated and redundant narrative about an important era of American history, and it's such a shame it completely missed the mark. It can easily be shelved right next to the other light reads in the supermarket aisle, and that is not where a book about Civil Rights movement should be shelved, damn it! The characters are shallow, predictable, and painfuly two-dimentional. Can someone tell me why Hilly had to be such an unapologetic bitch?! Why? What was the point? Did she have her panties up in a bunch all fucking day long? Why did Skeeter have to be so spineless? Why was Minny such a painful caricature of a sassy black woman? Why would that stupid Stuart person even be in the book? Every time To Kill the Mocking Bird was mentioned, I had to cringe. Manufactured cashcow - that is what this book is all about. I'm only giving it an extra star for good writing style, but other than that, this book is going to the donation bin.

Colleen

I saw the movie version a while back and loved it. I've been meaning to read the book since it came out, but somehow I never quite got around to it. I'm very glad that I finally did though. I really enjoyed this book!

Usually I have trouble getting into books with multiple points of view, but it didn't bother me at all with this book. The three voices (Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter) were distinct from each other. I had a few muddled minutes in the first chapter when I was trying to remember who some of the minor characters were, but after that I was totally absorbed and could barely put the book down. All three women had their own strengths and weaknesses and though their journeys intertwined, they each grew in their own powerful way. 

I have to give Stockett props for writing about a tough subject. I think it was very tactfully done. Neither side was villainized, yet it clearly showed the ignorance, pain, and discrimination. There was enough dialect and colloquialism to set the scene, but it was not overdone. 

I also loved the every day events and relationships. Because no matter what huge world changing events are going on, there will always be the little things happening as well. Husbands are hunted, crops are harvested, children grow, friendships shift, seasons change. Vietnam and the Kennedy assassination were mentioned, but they are not the main catalysts in the book. Sometimes the little things matter more than the big ones. The blending of big historical events with fictional lives of the characters made the book seem very real.

It was a very bittersweet story. Some parts made me laugh out loud and some parts made me cry (which doesn't happen often from books). But the overall result was uplifting and poignant. It would be very hard to read this book and not be moved. 

There was a little roughness around the edges of this book, but I can't point out any obvious flaws. It is especially impressive for a first novel. I truly enjoyed this book, so it gets five stars. I hope Stockett can top this with her next book!

 I enjoyed The Help much more than I thought I would. I picked it up secondhand at a bookstore a few years ago, and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. I finally decided to read it, as I've been trying to go through my tbr, and I'm glad I did.

My favorite aspect of this book was the interwoven POVs, alternating between Aibileen, Skeeter and Minny. I especially enjoyed this because they were in first person, giving the reader an intimate glimpse into their thoughts and feelings. I do wish, however, we would have gotten more of Minny's POV because I liked her chapters the best. I also liked reading about her and Miss Celia, whom I don't think there was enough of in the story. I would have liked more. 

This book has some mystery to it, and many times I kept reading because I had to find out more. It certainly kept me hooked, especially when it dealt with Minny and Celia. Celia just might be my favorite character, and I liked learning more about her. I thought she could have been included more, given a little more of a happy ending.

Skeeter seems to have the most page-time throughout the book, and while I liked her, I thought she came across as obtuse many times. And her dialogue was cluttered with so many ellipses and pauses to the point it was almost unrealistic. It made her seem to unconfident. These ellipses (almost every character was guilty of this, but Skeeter was the worst offender) just slow down the dialogue and don't feel or sound natural all of the time. Maybe it's just me. 

The Help has more than just a touch of humor, and I really enjoyed that aspect. It made me chuckle more than once, and anytime a book can get a physical reaction out of me, it makes me appreciate it more; it sticks out to me more. This book is full of heart and memorable characters. One other small complaint I have, though, is constantly bringing weight into play when it shouldn't matter. The author almost never misses a chance to comment on Hilly's weight or weight gain, and I just didn't like that. The overweight characters seem to have the most negative characteristics, and that includes Minny. But using weigh to make Hilly even more unlikeable I thought was unnecessary. This is just something small that took away my enjoyment; I'm sure most readers would not or do not mind or care. 

Overall, I'm thankful I read this book. It was well-written and I thought it ended in just the right place. 

Amanda

4.5 stars I enjoyed The Help much more than I thought I would. I picked it up secondhand at a bookstore a few years ago, and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. I finally decided to read it, as I've been trying to go through my tbr, and I'm glad I did.

My favorite aspect of this book was the interwoven POVs, alternating between Aibileen, Skeeter and Minny. I especially enjoyed this because they were in first person, giving the reader an intimate glimpse into their thoughts and feelings. I do wish, however, we would have gotten more of Minny's POV because I liked her chapters the best. I also liked reading about her and Miss Celia, whom I don't think there was enough of in the story. I would have liked more. 

This book has some mystery to it, and many times I kept reading because I had to find out more. It certainly kept me hooked, especially when it dealt with Minny and Celia. Celia just might be my favorite character, and I liked learning more about her. I thought she could have been included more, given a little more of a happy ending.

Skeeter seems to have the most page-time throughout the book, and while I liked her, I thought she came across as obtuse many times. And her dialogue was cluttered with so many ellipses and pauses to the point it was almost unrealistic. It made her seem to unconfident. These ellipses (almost every character was guilty of this, but Skeeter was the worst offender) just slow down the dialogue and don't feel or sound natural all of the time. Maybe it's just me. 

The Help has more than just a touch of humor, and I really enjoyed that aspect. It made me chuckle more than once, and anytime a book can get a physical reaction out of me, it makes me appreciate it more; it sticks out to me more. This book is full of heart and memorable characters. One other small complaint I have, though, is constantly bringing weight into play when it shouldn't matter. The author almost never misses a chance to comment on Hilly's weight or weight gain, and I just didn't like that. The overweight characters seem to have the most negative characteristics, and that includes Minny. But using weigh to make Hilly even more unlikeable I thought was unnecessary. This is just something small that took away my enjoyment; I'm sure most readers would not or do not mind or care. 

Overall, I'm thankful I read this book. It was well-written and I thought it ended in just the right place. 

Katherine Yang

Problematic and slightly short-sighted, but… enjoyable!

Audrey Lord

Jeannette Ordas

When I wasn't reading this book, I was wondering when my next chance to read this would be. Last night I couldn't sleep, so I read the last half of the book in one late-night gulp. Compelling and well written. Surprising because after the first page and a glance at the reviews at the back of the book I wondered where the hell I got a recommendation from. Glad I kept reading.

Arturo Hernández

As a lot of people, I saw the movie based on this book first. My first thought was “I don’t need to read it”, however now that I’ve finished the last chapter I’m happy to say that is was worth it.

I love the rawness of the narration, the way Kathryn introduces and develops each character makes you really fall in love and worry about each of them.

I’m fabled about the social injustice this book reflects on and the fact that this book is set on a time decades from now, but the issues it narrates still echo in modern society.

“The help” is now part of my list of favorite books.

Fran Lewis

Okay. Wow. I flipped through this so fast. So amazing. I have nothing more to say.

Caroll-Ann

** spoiler alert **
           I knew that I‘m going to like this book since I remembered loving the movie when I watched it a few years ago. But as always the book is so much better than the movie. 

This book is so important and honestly I still can‘t believe that the world really was like this just a few centuries ago. It makes me think about all the things that were wrong and still are wrong in our world. 

Society can be so ugly but that doesn‘t mean everyone in that society is and this book just highlights how important it is to give a voice to all the wrongs going on in the world. We already made such a hude progress BUT we are nowhere near done and that‘s what I thought about while reading this book, I felt the same when I watched the movie back then. 

I recommend everyone to read this book and think about it.

Kelly Johnson

Loved it. Paints a beautiful verbal picture of life during racial segregation and the civil rights movement.

Irene Alegre

This book was ok. It was an easy, quite fast read and enjoyable. Although at some point maybe even too easy to read, The Help is a good 'women's novel' with likeable characters and a beautiful sense of companionship, love and sisterhood. It is not complex and probably will not take you too far, but as a break from harder reads it's a good choice.

Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, raising her seventeenth white child. She's always taken orders quietly, but lately it leaves her with a bitterness she can no longer bite back. Her friend Minny has certainly never held her tongue, or held on to a job for very long, but now she's working for a newcomer with secrets that leaver her speechless. And white socialite Skeeter has just returned from college with ambition and a degree but, to her mother's lament, no husband. Normally Skeeter would find solace in Constantine, the beloved maid who raised her, but Constantine has inexplicably disappeared.

Together, these seemingly different women join to work on a project that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town--to write, in secret, a tell-all book about what it's really like to work as a black maid in the white homes of the South. Despite the terrible risks they will have to take, and the sometimes humorous boundaries they will have to cross, these three women unite with one intention: hope for a better day.

(back cover)

annie

** spoiler alert **
           I enjoyed The Help very much. I could not put it down, it always left me wanting to read more. I love the characters, except for the men. The men in The Help are depicted terribly, they are straight out rude and unlikable. I was wary of giving it 5 stars only because the end is completely unethical and unbelievable, given the situation **SPOILER** (Aibileen getting the Ms. Murna job). Going back to the men aspect, it seems as though Kathryn Stockett hates men! But the writing and intriguing storyline makes up for it. Overall, I loved the book! It was absolutely wonderful and only had 2 flaws in my opinion.