Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan

9 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

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

maryannc's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Grief, and Drug use

Minor: Abortion, Racism, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

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

12grace4's review

dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Sexual content

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

whatskatiereading's review against another edition

emotional 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

This story unfolds in Beirut, Damascus, and the United States bouncing between the 1980s and present day. Idris, Manza, and their three adult children (Ava, Mimi, and Naj) are brought together by Idris’ desire to sell his childhood home in Beirut. With the family coming together, we learn about them as individuals and about their relationships to one another. Like any family, they have their secrets that we slowly learn about throughout the book. The large majority of the book takes place in the past, showing the events that led Manza and Idris to move to California. While this book is a work of fiction, the backdrop of Syria and Lebanon in the 1980s creates a story that seems very real. The historical nature of this book was very insightful. The author managed to pack a lot of history and insights into an incredible story. 

As someone who prefers shorter books, this one was on the longer side for me (440 pages). Longer books tend to intimidate me, or I find myself zoning out during parts that I don’t find interesting. Alyan’s writing had me invested from the beginning and there was not one page that had me losing interest. This beautiful family saga tapped into so many emotions, it’s hard to sum it all up. As a music lover I really enjoyed Naj and Mimi’s storylines, though Manza is hands down my favorite character. I really hope this book gets a lot of buzz this year because I thought it was absolutely fantastic. Thank you BookishFirst and HMH for my copy of The Arsonists’ City! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, and Sexual content

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

I loved this book! The complex look at family and sibling relationships drew me in and made me feel part of these characters lives. My heart was aching and I cried a few times throughout the novel as I got to know these people. The ending felt perfect but I’m definitely going to have a book hangover.

The story makes me want to learn more about Lebanon and the conflicts discussed throughout the book. Also enjoyed the switching POVs and timelines to get an in depth look at each character. Will definitely be reading more of Alyan’s novels!! Highly highly recommend.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. All the opinions above are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abortion, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Chronic illness and Gun violence