Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

35 reviews

herownbeat's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Overall, I liked the book. Evaristo’s writing style took a moment to get used to, but soon enough you feel like you’re reading poetry instead of prose. It was hard for me to keep up with the characters, stories, and moments that tie in later. I recommend that you read this over a weekend versus a couple weeks. With that being said, this story is needed and necessary. It gives many perspectives of the LBGTQ+ community and the issues they face. In addition, I appreciate how it discusses the dynamics and differences of opinion within the community. I recommend this for book clubs to have engaging and enlightening discussions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Child death

Moderate: Bullying, Rape, and Classism

Minor: Alcohol, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Islamophobia, and Body shaming

thedisabledreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

emilo's review

emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

2022:absolutely solid. i really liked how everything tied together 

2024:
I do really like this book a lot, it’s probably one of my like most favourite ones and i did almost cry. 
i do like bernardine evaristo a lot but she did kinda fumble the trans rep. like using characters deadnames, not understanding why we don’t differentiate between medically and non medically transitioned people, not like completely getting trans women and i dunno i would have liked her to write about more about the intersection of race and being trans, which she didn’t really get. that said for a cis woman she really *got* the feelings of a non binary/trans masc experience, and you can tell she did her research. 
but i think that it would have helped if one of the other main characters was a trans woman because like it would have been good to see more of the diversity of womanhood. and then it’s like why include morgan? like they are only included in this book because they are afab. and they clearly have a difficult relationship to being assigned female at birth and it was hard for them. 

also!! in the dedication of lgbti but not lgbtiaq is wild. like cmon mate. asexuals and aromantics and agender people exist. it’s silly to do the rest of the letters and just forget us. also womyn is transphobic. 

that said!!! this book ends on a conclusion of inclusion with amma encouraging domique to be more inclusive in her feminism and in her lesbian festivals. 
i do rlly like this book and like again clearly the author put a lot of research in esp if she’s not queer herself. 

also!!! why r they all in england??? like scotland is sm fun 

anyway i love this book a lot 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Classism, Transphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Deadnaming, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Violence, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

skudiklier's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

Oh, wow, this was so good. I'll admit that it took me a while to get into it; every chapter being seemingly unrelated at first made it hard for me to keep up momentum with the book, and I read the first half really slowly. But by the end the connections were becoming more clear and I was more engaged with each chapter. By the end I absolutely loved this. It's such a well-crafted story, with so many different types of people from different times and places. I love how complicated and real it felt, and I also loved the way it was written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Classism, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Ableism, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Grief, and Islamophobia

mme_carton's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Classism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Islamophobia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: War, Slavery, Excrement, and Self harm

Minor: Eating disorder, Cancer, and Infertility

leoniefnk's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

nicoleamanfu's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Minor: Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Transphobia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Drug use, and Infidelity

mihai26's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring relaxing sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Xenophobia

miarose_'s review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

Wonderful. Interconnected. Whirlwind. 

A dozen interconnected stories thoughtfully played out across only 464 pages.  I really enjoyed Evaristo's fluid experimental style, it felt very natural, with no disruptions despite being so unconventional. 
I read a hard copy of the book and listened to the audiobook narrated by Anna-Maria Nabirye (who was fabulous). This helped hugely with keeping up with the fluidity of the prose and would recommend doing this if you're unsure about this aspect of the book. Overall it was a tender, honest, whirlwind that speaks to the spectrum of black British identity, sexuality, intergenerational struggles and how the character's relationships with themselves, their world and the people in it grow apart and reconnect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Transphobia, and Islamophobia

corriejn's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Homophobia

Minor: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Transphobia, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Cultural appropriation, Animal death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Colonisation