Reviews

Palestine + 100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba by Basma Ghalayini

boogiebeez's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

tailsmalone's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Book #8 of 2024: “Palestine +100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba” edited by Basma Ghalayini

An anthology of science fiction stories by Palestinian authors imagining what their world will look like in 2048. Common themes of being trapped by the dream of returning “home” as it’s passed from generation to generation, further oppression and erasure by Israel, families forced apart by new bordered, and the trauma of losing loved ones to genocide. 

sapphfoes's review against another edition

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limmy voice check out the curse of the mud ball kid if you get the chance . sound of the summer.

iridescentjemz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

A short story collection based around where Palestine will be 100 years after the Nakba (which is only 24 years away from now). They are mainly sci-fi and dystopian with a bit of everything in between, even some ghostly moments and just plain weird moments (which I loved).

It covers topics including parallel worlds, AI, VR, hackers and of course various iterations of what Palestine might look like in 2048. 

I loved all of these stories, they were so well written and absorbing even for someone like me that doesn’t always gel with sci-fi. There are some very interesting ideas in these stories and some very poignant moments. I definitely think this will be a book I’ll revisit in the future and I’d like to explore more works by the authors who contributed works to this collection.

It’s hard to imagine what the world will be like in 2048, but I still have hope in my heart that I’ll see a free Palestine in my lifetime.

amyjo25's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

sahanarauru's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

zamziva's review against another edition

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5.0

A beautiful and brutal collection of sci-fi short stories by Palestinian writers imagining palestin 100 years after the Nakba. I kept being reminded that 2048 is only 24 years away. And the truth behind so many of these stories is that the dystopia they invent are not far from the truth. 
My favourites of the collection were:

Song of the Birds by Saleem Haddad
(Is a simulated reality a better option than one in which you struggle against your oppressors?)

Sleep It Off, Dr Schott by Selma Dabbagh (explores surveillance within occupied Palestine in a complex and intimate way. Did not care for Dr Schott at all though haha)

N by Majd Kayyal (there's an inertia, an underlying sense of grief and distance, a hollow feeling to this story and yet there are glimmers of hope. Reckoning with what peace actually means and what is compromised in the process)

Application 39 by Ahmed Masoud (feels a bit kooky and playful in the beginning but grounds to a visceral and urgent tone at the end - marvellous)

The Association by Samir El-Yousef (almost Pynchian in its web of conspiracies and mystery - the historian as an insurgent...)

The Curse of the Mud Ball Kid by Mazen Maarouf (a strange, bewildering surreal sci-fi tale - dark and heavy and rebellious - Palestine will live for ever!)

Free Palestine 🇵🇸 

shraiya's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

gtea_reader's review against another edition

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

3.5

transguyrudy's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

Some of the most gut wrenching sci-fi I've ever read. Usually there's some weaker stories in collections like these but every single one was a hit to the gut. Really recommend to everyone who wants to learn more about the suffering that Palestinians have been facing for the last 76 years, and the way this suffering has impacted their culture and community.