Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

51 reviews

murderousscottishgremlin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.75

Such a poignant, important story. Abulhawa’s characterisation and style is striking. I’ll be thinking about this book for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Rape

Minor: Homophobia

merenr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Exquisite book that is currently in my runnings for best read of the year (so far). Abulhawa captures multiple worlds with feeling and gorgeous prose that leaves my eyes watering or downpouring. It is rare that I read a book and cry at both happy and sad parts.

Abulhawa offers priceless insight into why people keep going, despite the suffering of the "Loveless World." After hearing this book lived in her head for twenty years, I treat its pages as a reassurance to my twenty-year-old self and beyond.

I must acknowledge that the real life stories of Palestinians and the Diaspora may not experience as much luck as Nahr, though I hate to call it that (that Bilal is still alive and she is able to reunite with her family and friend); this makes reading the ending ever more like a lingering aftertaste of sorrow and pain for all those in real life who are displaced, martyred, and living with severe trauma every day because of white supremacy, settler colonialism, Zionism, racism, etc. First of all, I hope people already regard Black and Brown lives as indispensable and infinitely precious, but if they don't, I hope they can pick up a book like this one, make a new friend, do the work, and become an accomplice to liberation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, War, Homophobia, and Abortion

emersoncochran's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Rape and Violence

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Abortion, Confinement, Cancer, and Cursing

Minor: Sexual assault

lizziaha's review against another edition

4.25

This is a story that spans years, and yet feels like only a very small part of the overall story. It reads like a memoir, and I honestly had a hard time reading it. It was hard to wrestle with how my opinions and pre-conceived notions occasionally differed from Nahr’s. And it was difficult to witness such human suffering. My brain kept trying to negate the seriousness of the events of this book because they are fictional, so I had to keep reminding myself to Palestinians face this and more at the hands of Israel. It made reading this book a very involved process for me. Which is why I think it is a book that is essential to the canon, and should be read and studied more widely. The characters all felt very complex and flawed, and abulhawa gave them space for that. There were some moments of real beauty and lyricism in the written word. Particularly in depictions of the Palestinian culture and people. From the river to the sea 🇵🇸

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Deportation, Grief, Rape, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, War, Racism, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Ableism

Minor: Antisemitism, Bullying, Cancer, and Death of parent

readandfindout's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Abortion, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Rape, War, Confinement, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Homophobia, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Grief, Sexism, Torture, and Racism

shieldbearer's review against another edition

This book was beautifully written but it didn't grab me the way "Mornings in Jenin" did. There is a lot of heavy, nuanced plotting here, but there are also several ways the plotting falls short, When looked at as a work of fiction, this simply does not do it for me. Part of it is that I can't get invested in the romance. A similar work that I preferred a lot is "Minor Detail"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Classism, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Cursing, Sexual violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Infidelity, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Deportation, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Infertility, Abortion, Antisemitism, Outing, and Pregnancy

vanessamariebooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Favorite of the year. Highly recommend, especially for bookclubs or High School English classes. My thoughts here: https://www.youtube.com/live/jHkbo3kEbbg?si=AQwDiPhqLPCpTQey

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Death, Homophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Ableism, Dementia, and Outing

serendipitous_mess's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

An absolutely gripping story. Abulhawa is an artist with her words, and manages to capture a humanness in her characters that is heart-breaking.
I have nothing in common with the main character, and haven't been through even half of the tragedies she lives through, yet her feelings of displacement, her wish to find a balance between fighting for something she believes in, and her wish to have a small, quiet life, her finding the joy in nature, art and small human acts of kindness, her development of seeing the world in black and white to finding nuance and beauty in everything is so real.

the only downside is that i found the ending a little rushed. and how tragic it is that we cannot have a truly happy ending. Free Palestine ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Colonisation, War, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Homophobia

mybestfriendisabook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

was hooked immediately!! i was doubtful if i would like it looking at the first page but it had an intriguing start with the MC which told me this character was going to be interesting. i loved how easy, smooth, and digestible it was to read - these are my favorites. i finished in 2 days, was reading until i couldn’t stay awake anymore. i would love a second book that continued the story but now i see why it’s not necessary as the ending showed the reality of her life.

touches on the occupation, resistance, romance, friendship, family, patriarchy, grief, and, undoubtedly, much more. had some really great quotes. learned more about the occupation of Palestine. 

i loved how bold the MC was and the life she lived. it made for a very interesting journey. idk why this is marked as slow-paced, it’s definitely medium and maybe even fast! (edit: submitted ticket to change to medium-paced) i found myself referring to the glossary often when needed, it’s interesting to learn. lots of stuff packed in made it worthwhile. 

the physical book format also helped in the smoothness - good page feel and font styling. love the cover too

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, War, Colonisation, Murder, Sexual assault, Grief, Gun violence, Rape, Homophobia, Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion

01ivia's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Antisemitism, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Cancer