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pacifickat's review against another edition
3.0
I don't always love young adult Marjane, even if her overall story is worth the time to read. (Her father, however, is an absolute gem.) I often perceive her as quite selfish, although she had to live alone in a foreign country starting at age 14 so her self-centeredness may be fueled by survival instict. There is one particularly disturbing scene
Furthermore, her family's relative wealth helps her get out of a lot of situations without physical harm, and she seems unaware of the privilege this is. Then she judges her friends and peers when they make choices to 'play it safe' rather than fighting the oppressive government, attending covert parties as a form of protest, or pushing back against gender norms and expectations. She doesn't seem to fully grasp how much others around her stand to lose if they hold on too hard to their idealism.
I also found the internalized sexism of the women the author portrayed to be really sad and disturbing. There are lots of scenes of women glaring at each other when one is receiving a man's attention seemingly out of jealousy or disapproval. Plus, Marjane's internal dialogue often calls other women names like 'fat cow' when she finds them interacting with a man she is interested in, or she doesn't like the same things they do. I found her pretty mean and catty much of the time. However, while she is a very flawed character, she still suffers as a victim of racism, mysogeny, abusive laws, and police brutality. Her plight and suffering should still matter to the reader. This type of representation is actually a bit refreshing to see, even if it is challenging or uncomfortable to spend time in that narrator's shoes.
These books have faced recent bans in the US, so even more reason to check them out in my opinion. I don't see any reason why Part 1 would be inappropriate for age 13+, and Part 2 for age 15+.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Violence, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, War, Mental illness, Police brutality, Death, Self harm, Racism, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Rape
Minor: Infidelity and Pregnancy
Pressure to become pregnant, pressure to conform to religious ideology, restrictions on freedom of thought, restrictions on bodily autonomy, false imprisonment, homelessness, internalized sexismstrawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed reading this book. I love the format, if I had to choose one format for memoirs to read forever it would be graphic novels. It gives the reader a unique experience to see more than words and adds to the identification with the main character. Having this book and her first in graphic novel format helped me to see and understand what her life was truly like.
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Islamophobia, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Confinement, Misogyny, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual content, War, Grief, Infidelity, and Gun violence
Minor: Murder and Medical content
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Body shaming, Cursing, and Gun violence
cozy_academic's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Suicide attempt, War, Gun violence, Alcohol, Police brutality, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, and Drug use