Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

25 reviews

nineinchnails's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

this was another heartwrenching book from abulhawa. there's something about the way she weaves a story that really draws me in. just like Mornings in Jenin this deals with some very topics, so it was hard to read huge chunks in one sitting. despite being a work of fiction it's very clearly grounded in and inspired by real historical (and current) events so it's hard to "enjoy" this for its story without feeling an immense sense of grief for the countless victims of israel. the main character was initially fairly detached from and unmoved by palestine, and experiencing her (re)discovery of her homeland was incredibly touching. the writing in general was beautiful, and both the setting and the pacing were very intriguing. despite all the horror and trauma the characters find community with one another and i found myself almost forgetting how painful the rest of the book was at parts. 

i particularly enjoy more character driven novels so while i noticed a change in pace later on, i didn't ever feel like it dragged before that point - this might be a slight issue for some readers. i'd recommend this to anyone and everyone but there is a big focus on sexual violence in the first part of this novel, so i think it's worth checking the trigger warnings before you pick this one up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Grief, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Death, Child death, Deportation, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Gun violence, Classism, Abortion, and Bullying

Minor: Death of parent, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Vomit, Miscarriage, Islamophobia, Cancer, Racial slurs, Infidelity, and Ableism

Prostitution/Sex work

holmahoney's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Colonisation, Gore, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Genocide, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Cancer, Islamophobia, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racism, Torture, and Physical abuse

abeilleabbie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, and Rape

Moderate: Misogyny, War, Torture, Colonisation, Genocide, Sexual harassment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Racism, Police brutality, Trafficking, Islamophobia, and Deportation

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexism, Infidelity, and Infertility

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

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

rachelfayreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Infertility, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Genocide, Deportation, Confinement, Colonisation, Abortion, and Antisemitism

brynalexa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

A powerful journey. Perfectly paced and gripping. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, War, Deportation, Drug use, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Addiction, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Vomit, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, and Hate crime

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, Fatphobia, and Dementia

issy_jacob's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Grief, Gun violence, Child death, Sexual assault, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Blood, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Animal death, Infertility, and Genocide

Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use

Minor: Addiction and Vomit

kjofalltrades's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Abortion, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Genocide, Medical content, Torture, Infertility, Deportation, War, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Infidelity, Cancer, Body shaming, Vomit, and Animal death

katialena's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Racism

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Cursing, Alcohol, Drug use, and Torture

Minor: Abortion, Antisemitism, Classism, Miscarriage, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse