Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

99 reviews

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

booknerderika's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.0

This was stressful and sad. I did not expect that ending at all. 

I felt uncomfortable throughout the first chapter and then just anxious the rest of the book. It is sad that this kind of stuff has been happening for years and although this book is fiction, it sheds light on things that actually happen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and War

Moderate: Islamophobia

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

xtinatowers's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

really well written. very short and felt like a very quick read. i read part one in one sitting and part two in another. i thought both narratives were interesting but i found trouble properly connecting the two. if it was longer it could have really developed the second narrative into the investigation, but it ends too abruptly and with no resolution. as in resolution, i mean… just a point to it if that makes sense. i noticed a lot of tandems between the dogs, the gasoline, the dunes etc etc but i struggled to see the point of these parallels. the second narrative could have gone so far traveling alongside the story of the first, and it failed to do that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Islamophobia, and Colonisation

emsreadingdiary's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

Short but heartbreaking. The first half of the book is so sickening you just want to get it over with. Not only is the issue at hand disgusting, but the symbolism and the detached mode of story-telling add something more that deepens the effect. The second half, set in the present day, you can feel the anxieties and the alienations of the female protagonist. The sense of being treated as an enemy in your own country is palpable, and the idea that we’ll cling to anything that connects us to our home, our people, our heritage, no matter how horrifyingly traumatic, is one that I feel like many can understand. 105 pages and all of them will make you reevaluate yourself and your life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishbrenbren's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

During the Nakba, colonizing? israeli? soldiers murder a family of Bedoins without cause and repeatedly rape the kidnapped daughter. Roughly 50 years later, a Palestinian woman becomes obsessed with the report of this crime. 

I did think this book was well-written and compelling but to be honest, the second half of the book was so boring that it ruined the book for me. And the first half was so grotesque, both with violence and body horror, that I was looking for the second half to save it, so was let down doubly. While the book had moments that were compelling, especially the character development of the MC, and the portrait of modern life under israeli occupation, the vast majority of it was just a list of uneventful actions, e.g., "she got in the car, she walked into the museum, she looked at this thing, she looked at that thing," ad nauseam. Whatever the point of that particularly literary tool was, it was lost on me and I can say confidently, it was over-used. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

dre721's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The ENDING?????? Hello??!?? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

emilily's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is hard to review, and harder to read. 

Utterly challenging, this book feels sluggish and repetitive at times, but shocking and jarring at others. This books is divided into two parellel stories of Israeli soldiers in 1949 who capture, assault, and kill a young girl, followed by the modern day story of a young woman who learns of the historic tragedy, and becomes obsessed with uncovering more about the murdered girl. 

The prose is carefully considered, but uncomfortable to read. 'Minor details' are ever present -- the storytelling often gives much attention to little, mundane details, to the point of feeling irritating. I often wanted the author to get on with it, instead of spending such a long time on seemingly irrelevant details... but I think that was the point. The author seemed to want the reader to feel uncomfortable while reading these passages. It hits harder when you realise that exceptional care is taken to describe these minor details in the commander's life, while virtually no detail is provided about the captured girl. This creates space to reflect on the fact that 'history is told by the victors', while victims seldom have their stories recorded in the same detail. 

The book is also filled with minor details drawing attention to the similarities and differences between the region in 1949 vs the present. Throughout the story of the modern day women, readers are provided insight into the current challenges of living as a Palestinian, while noting how little has changed since the troubles of 1949. 

Minor Detail is not an easy read. It is horribly uncomfortable and challenging, yet there is no denying that it is impactful. I'll be thinking about this read for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Hate crime, Sexism, Violence, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and War

shikha20's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Islamophobia, Murder, and Colonisation

marjoleinvanderspoel's review

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Minor Detail is a small book about a large topic. Horrific, poignant and deeply chilling, it was a singular reading experience that I am likely to continue thinking about for a long while yet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail