Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'
Palestine + 100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba by Basma Ghalayini
6 reviews
tahsintries's review against another edition
Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Abortion, Addiction, Genocide, Medical trauma, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Mental illness, and Colonisation
lettuce_read's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Child death and Gun violence
Moderate: Suicide
dhiyanah's review against another edition
3.0
Whatever strange concoction or tricky challenges the authors came up with for their characters to endure here felt faint in comparison to the real-life bombardment that Palestinians have endured for nearly 100 years, now. I think that may be the very point of this dystopian collection.
What struck me was an underlying tone of hope that seemed embedded in many of these stories - that even if the imagined or near future were to be full of the same dread, the fight to reclaim one's right to live will also keep going on.
Graphic: Suicide, Misogyny, Gun violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Abortion, Sexual assault, Child death, Sexual content, and Racial slurs
azrah786's review against another edition
3.5
--
As soon as I became aware that this was a sci-fi anthology I immediately added it to my tbr and I’ve finally got around to reading it.
Palestine +100 is a short story collection where twelve writers were asked to reimagine Palestine in 2048, a century after the Nakba. A few of the stories are translated and they range in subgenre, though there a significant inclusion of technology in each narrative.
Basma Ghalayini, the editor points out how Palestinian authors predominantly “write about their past through their present, knowingly or unknowingly” and I found this collection to be in the same vein with the writers expressing the present in their imagination of the future, making it just as valuable to learn from.
Some stories explore what a free Palestine would look like and what “free” actually means. Others touch on Palestinian resilience and resistance as well as themes of security and mental health under occupation, expanding on them under a sci-fi lens. As with any such collection it is a mixed bag and there were definitely some stories that I enjoyed more and resonated more with than others. Though despite being speculative each and every one of them has something that will really get you thinking and further put into perspective the Orwellian nature of things we’re witnessing here and now.
Which brings me to the story that will stick with me the most - Song of the Birds by Saleem Haddad. A poignant and phenomenal pie and I’d rather not give too much about it away. It’s subtle on the futuristic elements making the setting, which is Gaza, close to indistinguishable from present day.
What was absolutely jarring was reading the quote (here it is out of context)
“I’m thinking that you’re telling me the only way I can be free is to die”
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Confinement, Child death, Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Violence, Gun violence, Body horror, Death, War, and Suicide
laurareads87's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Child death, War, Death, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Suicide
samalsha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Death, Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, Grief, and War