Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

26 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

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

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

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

electrachet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

To me, this book is not just about the Palestinian experience, but also about the resilience of women in the face of oppression. It explores themes of survival, family, and different types of love. What stood out to me the most was the focus on self-love, as I observed Nahr's journey of developing love for herself and gradually opening up and showing more of her heart. My favorite part of the book was this tenderness of the second-half in Palestine where she was surrounded by love despite great suffering and that love helped her heal from

some of the sexual abuse and trauma of her early life in Kuwait

. Up until that part, I was loosing interest a bit, especially with the lack of nuanced Israeli characters. I understand Israel's crimes and I'm not naive of the role of Israelis in serving a government so callous, especially considering the current assault on Gaza. But I still am wary about what happen when that righteous anger against occupation turns against anyone who is Jewish (esp considering that many of the comments that the side characters make are blurring the lines of antisemitism). I think there was an attempt at nuance with

the introduction of James Baldwin and some of his work and I think it could have been an opportunity for greater insight from the characters or even Nahr since we only got Bilal's perspective

. I think in many places I was really wanting more from Nahr's perspective and what she was really feeling or thinking instead of the stoicism of her older self recounting her memories. Anyways, the last 20 pages were a masterpiece, and I wasn't sure what would happen next. The characters and their relationships felt vivid and real. Nahr, in particular, felt like a genuine person. My only other complaint was that the writing was at times truncated and skipped over plot details, but it was mostly very beautiful. Nahr also had some great quotes and monologues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Medical trauma, Grief, Abortion, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Deportation, Infidelity, War, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Physical abuse

jiimjam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This is a great story with beautiful deep characters. Everyone has flaws but they care so much for each other and work out issues. 

Being an American on the other side of the world, I am far away from the issues discussed in this book, it can feel like another world entirely. Though this is a fictional story, there are very real stories of people who have experienced the torture, heartache, and displacement from their homes and families that are spoken of in this book. It was an eye-opening read and part of a personal journey to listen to different voices. 

Quotes

"When powerless, following world events only highlights your impotence."

 "What’s it like to be a whale? To live in water. To be the biggest creature on earth, still vulnerable to a small man’s greed."

"...cruelty always has a dick."

"...happiness can reach such depths that it becomes something akin to grief."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, War, Colonisation, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Torture, Death, Rape, and Grief

havdic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-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: Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Rape, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Gun violence, War, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Genocide

amandahajj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

My quest to absorb as much knowledge as I can of Palestinian history and current events has taken up the better part of my brain in recent months. I’ve spent many hours researching the work of Middle East scholars, watching documentaries, and tracking the news. Yet reading this novel took me a while to finish. Somehow it felt more laborious than the hours of research I’ve committed.

I’m so glad I finally read this book though. What an epic tale of displacement, grief, trauma, resilience, and love. Filled with cultural quirks that resonated deeply, gut-wrenching passages, and ample of heart-warming passages too, I found myself more and more compelled to read as it went on.

I love that this read embraces our messiness as humans and allows readers to grapple with the greater forces that move them and move around them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Sexual assault

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