Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan

12 reviews

vegronica's review

emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

I think a lot of what I love about this is Leila Buck's narration in the audiobook. I wouldn't re-read it but I was hooked the whole time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Blood, Violence, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Homophobia, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, Abortion, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Dementia

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: War and Islamophobia

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Abortion, Alcoholism, Medical content, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Racism, and Dementia

dragongirl271's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Homophobia, and Death

Minor: Racism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

cjlacyhanks's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Abortion and Dementia

Minor: War

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Hate crime

Moderate: Classism, Dementia, Pregnancy, Racism, Vomit, Violence, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, Death, and Grief

Minor: War, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Racial slurs, Car accident, Abortion, Blood, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Toxic relationship

katharina90's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

A multigenerational drama largely centered around family secrets and dysfunctional dynamics. 

The characters are beautifully complex, sometimes loveable, sometimes infuriating. As with Salt Houses, I found myself much more invested in the lives of the older generation. 

At times, the pacing was slower than I would have liked but pushing through those parts was well worth it. 

The one thing I really didn't care for was the amount of infidelity. It felt repetitive for almost every character to either cheat or be cheated on, or both.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Abortion, Grief, Murder, Drug use, Sexual assault, Racism, Infidelity, and Homophobia

Minor: Classism, Death of parent, and Fatphobia

rustedtrains's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, War, Colonisation, and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault and Drug use

bookreviewswithkb's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

5 ✨ it’s a favorite 

literary fiction, family saga

cw: abortion, drug use, grief, sexual assault

Hala Alyan is an incredible author - her writing is beautiful and captivating and deeply reflective. The Arsonists’ City is a messy family drama, but more than that, it’s about what happens to us when the life we dreamed is so far away and all we can do is try to make a life from what we have. 

Mazna, the mother of the centered family, is a character that will stay with me for a very long time. 

“…the way her heart constricted so tight, it never truly loosened again.” this is Mazna to me. the result of living her life trying to give something close to pleasantness or, satisfaction to those around her all the while giving up everything she ever wanted for herself. that resentment, that pent up anger, that lack of joy in her life might look like bitterness to the outsider. because the more secrets we have, the less room there is for peace. and without peace, without freedom… well we know what that looks like. and instead of saying how can we cultivate more peace for this person, we criticize her for not meeting our expectations

“People don’t need much of a reason to hate each other. We’re programmed to blame others for our unhappiness. And if your priest or imam or big brother tells you a whole group of people hates you, it’s not like you’re going to stop to ask them if it’s true.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Drug use and Sexual assault

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

 - I feel like I've lost my ability to write any kind of proper reviews of literary fiction, especially this kind of sprawling family epic variety, but THE ARSONISTS' CITY was too beautiful to leave off my feed.
- I was completely gripped by the stories of every member of the Nasr family. The way the story unraveled between the two timelines was just masterful.
- Also, going in to this book I didn't know there was a lesbian character! Hooray for adult queer fiction! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Dementia, Gun violence, Abortion, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and War

Moderate: Racism

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

The Arsonists’ City was an ambitious book that was made up of several stories to reveal a larger narrative (that isn’t quite revealed until later in the book, interestingly enough). It was bittersweet, with a heavy leaning towards the bitter, but there were certainly sweet moments as well. Hala Alyan really nails the messiness within a family. At the start of the novel, I was admittedly disinterested in most of the characters and the story because everyone just seemed frustrated, it came off too much like a bad soap opera, and there weren’t detailed reasons behind their annoyances. It seems this was deliberate, however, because the moment Alyan started unravelling the Nasr family’s secrets, the characters’ emotions started to pour out, the nuances of their lives became apparent, and I was stunned by how rich the story became.

There was so much detail that went into every family member’s story, particularly from the mother (Mazna) and the children (Ava, Mimi, and Naj). Even though the father’s perspective isn’t revealed much, the few moments we do, it adds a particular depth to his character. Alyan doesn’t hesitate to reveal the flaws of all her characters, particularly the Nasr family (understandably, since they’re at the center of the story). They hide a lot of painful secrets that weigh heavily on their shoulders, which the reader slowly discovers as the story progresses.

I was most taken to Mazna’s story and her incredibly complex relationship with Idris, the father. I thought her story was the most engaging parts of the book, perhaps due to the sheer number of secrets that were floating around. But more than anything, it was the way Alyan took care to explore the complexities of grief and love when we were reading Mazna’s perspective that I really appreciated.

I think my main issue was pacing. It felt a little awkward at times, though it really came together as more of the puzzle was completed. Other than that, though, I found this to be a rich multigenerational family story. It will require you to take time to read and contemplate the various themes that exist in this complex book, but it’s well worth the ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion