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Reviews tagging 'Murder'
The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, Laura L. Sullivan
4 reviews
creolelitbelle's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Normally, I do not read books that will likely make me sad, but this memoir is a good account of one teen's experience during the Bosnian War in the early 1990s. Schools in the US taught me that the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union were only positive for Eastern Europeans, but books like this show the negative side to the history that America does not necessarily want us to know. The world promised that nothing like the Holocaust would happen again, and it did within the same century.
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess's story gave me hope and nearly made me cry multiple times. She escaped some of the harsher realities of the war that some Bosniaks suffered, but she still struggled to survive and make a life for herself in the world thanks to the war. Maci (the cat) is a larger than life character in the memoir, and the author's note emphasizes that she was a huge impact on her family and life. My heart broke for the author when she described the sad pieces from her life during and after the war, but learning of her successes today is inspiring.
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess's story gave me hope and nearly made me cry multiple times. She escaped some of the harsher realities of the war that some Bosniaks suffered, but she still struggled to survive and make a life for herself in the world thanks to the war. Maci (the cat) is a larger than life character in the memoir, and the author's note emphasizes that she was a huge impact on her family and life. My heart broke for the author when she described the sad pieces from her life during and after the war, but learning of her successes today is inspiring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Islamophobia, and War
Moderate: Grief
josh_goetz's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
“The heavy snow that blankets the city and surrounding hills looks so clean, so innocent; you might almost think that the war never happened. But I know the snow hides bombed buildings and cratered roads. It covers mass graves; there is blood in the Earth beneath all that frozen beauty. You can hide the past, cover it up with snow or lies or years, but those who were there do not forget”
“I am ashamed for my people, for the Serbs and for the human race. We have been humans for 200,000 years, we have had written language for 5,000 years, we have been to space, yet somehow we cannot learn not to hate each other.”
What an absolutely incredible and heartbreaking book. I feel embarrassed to have gone this long without learning about the Bosnian genocide and I am disgusted by the way in which the US so easily ignores and misdirects around global genocide in the name of protecting its own racist agendas.
It is impossible to read this book without drawing parallels to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and I fear that this genocide too will be covered up and brushed away like that of the Bosnian Muslims just three decades ago. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess’s story is one of perseverance and community, with specific emphasis on learning from the past and doing everything in our power to not repeat it. It is our greatest duty and responsibility to stick together and fight for those who do not have the power to fight for themselves.
Fighting against generations of corruption, greed, racism and hatred is a seemingly insurmountable task, but it is not an impossible task. As Tata said, “We always help people. Without question, without reward, we help. I don’t know where to start, but we have to start somewhere.”
“I am ashamed for my people, for the Serbs and for the human race. We have been humans for 200,000 years, we have had written language for 5,000 years, we have been to space, yet somehow we cannot learn not to hate each other.”
What an absolutely incredible and heartbreaking book. I feel embarrassed to have gone this long without learning about the Bosnian genocide and I am disgusted by the way in which the US so easily ignores and misdirects around global genocide in the name of protecting its own racist agendas.
It is impossible to read this book without drawing parallels to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and I fear that this genocide too will be covered up and brushed away like that of the Bosnian Muslims just three decades ago. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess’s story is one of perseverance and community, with specific emphasis on learning from the past and doing everything in our power to not repeat it. It is our greatest duty and responsibility to stick together and fight for those who do not have the power to fight for themselves.
Fighting against generations of corruption, greed, racism and hatred is a seemingly insurmountable task, but it is not an impossible task. As Tata said, “We always help people. Without question, without reward, we help. I don’t know where to start, but we have to start somewhere.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, War, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Racism, Gun violence, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, and Gore
biacedbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This book was absolutely incredible and heartbreaking. It shows the realities of what some people have had to go through and really made me realize my privilege. I found myself crying on the last page, still holding out hope that Maci would find her way home one last time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Violence
bookswithsoumi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Bullying, Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Islamophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Genocide
Moderate: Trafficking
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