Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Internment by Samira Ahmed

9 reviews

frolickingdoe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Grief, Islamophobia, and Xenophobia

kaitlinmoose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Islamophobia

bekah_belle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Such an important book and an important topic. However, the execution was flawed and didn’t always work for me. Disappointing as I was so hopeful for the powerful potential of a YA novel taking on fascism and racism in America. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia

Minor: Blood, Cursing, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Confinement, Death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Kidnapping

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Death, Islamophobia, Child abuse, Violence, Torture, Blood, Xenophobia, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Hate crime, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, War, and Deportation

krys_kilz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I didn't like this book at all. I really liked Ahmed's other novel, Hollow Fires, so I was disappointed that Internment didn’t measure up. The writing in this novel felt less focused and was heavy handed with an excessive use of metaphor. It really brought the book down for me because it took me out of the story and flattened the characters. 

The politics in this book also felt really jumbled. The author critiqued liberals and yet the politics held by the characters and those resisting were essentially liberal. Very the system is broken rather than the system was structured to function this way.

It was full of tropes, an unnecessary love triangle, lots of filler, very little exploration of the conditions that led to the internment camp, everything being resolved way too easily and theatrically, and an unrealistically neatly wrapped up ending. The love triangle especially is so fucked up (hello age gap, weird white savior vibes, extreme power dynamics/imbalances).

It feels like a disservice to young adult readers because the concept behind this story was very strong and important. I wish it hadn't been so watered down and buried beneath all that fluff.  

Please be mindful of the content warnings before reading.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Confinement, Islamophobia, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Antisemitism and Blood

zoeysalzman14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This is a must-read for everyone. The way the story flows and tells a gripping tale of discrimination in present-day America is not only necessary but is needed. Please read this book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Islamophobia, Gun violence, and Death

applebutter_and_pickles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death and Torture

Minor: Blood

sunpuddles's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ writing
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ insightfulness
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ readability
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ plot development
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ character
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ pace

This a fantastic YA novel and a timely one for our last presidency. Touching mostly on the Muslim ban and white supremacy, but also race, religious  freedom and general civil liberties. I was moved by Ahmed’s references to the interment of Japanese Americans, the parallels to the Holocaust and references to more recent immigration policies (border wall, children in cages etc.) With all of these broader issues, she was still able to create vivid, relatable characters and used highly readable prose without relying too heavily on tropes of many YA novels. This acts as an inspiring cautionary tale, but not at the risk of being able to stand on its own as a very readable, fast-paced story of our almost-history.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Violence

ps2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Death, Blood, and Violence