Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Minor Detail

Not a single detail in this book is minor.
Even if the narrator in the second half of the book says it is. Details like being used to bombings and shelling and opening a window to avoid it shattering in an explosion but being upset about the dust. Not minor.

🇵🇸 Free Palestine 🇵🇸

Content Warnings

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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eve_kadou's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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kshertz's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

It’s actually really hard to review this book because it has such beautiful writing but such awful content. It’s uncomfortable to read at times but it’s also extremely important and well done. Sometimes I got lost in the narrative. But if you have any interest in Palestine and want to dive into a narrative that will absorb you into this situation through two stories.

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artemy_se's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

hammerhead69's review

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adventurous dark informative reflective 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

4.25

I was stuck between giving this book 5 stars or 1. Fantastic writing but the ending had me screaming!

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carojust's review

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Adania Shibli shows us the darkest side of humanity, a reality we can't ignore, in painfully beautiful and stark writing.

The first half feels blurry, sweltering, full of smells and you feel yourself fearing, unsure what this character will do. He ends up doing the worst, and you see that you're witnessing hell.

The second half is a complete character, POV, timeline and tone shift, told through an autistic-leaning narrator who describes, in complete detail, her world as a Palestinian in recent years. With no sense of emotion, she talks about bombings that she works and sleeps through. We follow her as she retraces the events from the first half.

Shibli artfully weaves details and symbolism from both timelines into each other. It has a heartstopping effect, when you see that things haven't changed. The ending emphasizes this.

Please read this book.

Content Warnings

misty_kb's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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