Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

72 reviews

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. 
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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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bloodmaarked's review

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

3.5

this book was not on my radar until my sister read it earlier this month and recommended it to me. my expectations were quite high, and, while its didn't quite match my expectations, i'm still glad i read it if only to get more insight to life in Palestine as told by a Palestinian author.

✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
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muchlibrary's review

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

This is such an incredible piece of literature. Non-linear history, unreliable narrators, research barriers, and so many small details that make a sad yet beautiful story. I had avoided this book because I heard it started with a brutal rape and murder, but Shibli manages to tell this story without the voyeurism I usually anticipate in writing about rape or violence. 

This is a difficult story, yet there is still humor and a wryness in the contemporary narrator's journey. I especially appreciated the utter Leo-ness of fixating on an early August birthday, and even dwelling on the potential narcissism involved, which she made a compelling argument to support.
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peckreadsbooks's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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kristakp's review

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

4.25

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quietabyss's review

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challenging dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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maddiereadswords's review against another edition

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4.5

A book that is equal parts heavy and powerful. Check the trigger warnings before reading, but god is it worth a read if you can handle it.
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annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

4.5

i found the clinical tone of the first part challenging, in contrast to the extreme readability of the second part with its masterful choice of narrator. the motifs seemed sparse, even for a novella, and a little heavy-handed, especially in the first part. but overall it was a worthwhile, important, haunting read.
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rebeccakoury's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense medium-paced
There's no way I can rate this. Read content warnings before pick this up.
Free Palestine 🇵🇸
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