Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Hello fellow Bri's Bookers!

This week I am reviewing The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It was a phenomenal book and I enjoyed reading it soooo much. I would give this book a 6/5 stars if possible and highly recommend it.

The book is deserving of 5/5 stars because it is transcendent in every regard. Taking place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's, The Help is about the relationship between maids (the help) and the families for which they work. It is about courage and the bravery that the maids go through when Skeeter approaches them with the hope of writing a book. In her book, she hopes to expose what kinds of relationships the help has with the families they work for. While this is a huge risk in a place like Jackson, Mississippi, if anyone were to find out, this is a story of courage and bravery.

The Help is told from three different points of view- Aibileen, Minnie, and Skeeter. I think that this adds to the story and allows us to truly see all sides and perspectives. One interesting thing that the author did, however, was break the point of view during Chapter 25 when The Benefit was going on. This is perhaps one of the biggest parts of the book and the shift in the point of view further accentuates its importance to the novel. Stockett broke out of using a point of view of one of the characters and instead chose to use the third-person omniscient point of view. I think that was a very original and creative idea that definitely added to the book.

One thing that makes The Help so interesting, is that the author is able to personally relate to it. Growing up, her family had a maid of their own as was in explained at the end of my copy of the book in a section titled "Kathryn Stockett, in her own words". The copy that I had also came with discussion questions at the end that make this book the perfect choice to read for a book club.

The book can be commended for it's excellent character development. They were all described in full detail and I was able to vividly and clearly picture them in my head. Stockett really made them come alive for me and it felt as if they were real people. I found myself on the verge of tears at some parts and holding my breath to see what would happen next at other parts. I found myself hoping that Skeeter's date went well and cringing when Cecilia chose to wear that dress to The Benefit. The characters became something that I really cared about and wanted the best for. Character development is, in my opinion, what Kathryn Stockett excels at the most.

The audio book was also very well done. I don’t typically listen to audio books, but I really enjoyed this one. It had distinct voices for each person so that it was always clear who was speaking. Also, I think it was nice that Octavia Spencer (the actress who plays Minnie Jackson in the movie) narrated Minnie's point of view.

The movie is very well done as well. Most people say that the book is better than the movie. While that is certainly true, I think that this movie is excellently done and it captures the book beautifully. The book does offer more detail though and goes farther into the lives of each character. It was a privilege to see the words I had read come to life on screen and the acting was phenomenal with actresses Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone. Octavia Spencer won an Oscar for "best performance by an actress in a supporting role".

One website that I used while reading this book was Cliffs Notes. There, they have a breakdown of each chapter, character list, analysis, and more.

Below is the movie trailer if you are interested.

Watch my review on YouTube!