Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

16 reviews

ringofkeyz's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Infertility, Misogyny, Police brutality, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review

emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

sarahbsews's review

emotional medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Torture, Police brutality, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

clairebartholomew549's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

This is a really striking story about generational change, what it means to fight for justice in your own way, lifelong friendships, and making peace or making waves. I felt deeply for both Homa and Ellie, and I learned so much about Iran. This book also had vivid descriptions of food that had my mouth watering, and it told a beautiful story of how food connects us and has so many memories and significance. The love story between Homa and Eleah really starts and ends with food, and it was a really meaningful throughline. It also made me very hungry, lol!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism

cdkm9's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

An amazing novel that was hard to put down. The author brings the reader along a rollercoaster of a journey through both the horrible and lighthearted/joyful moments in Ellie and Homa’s lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, and War

Minor: Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

artemismoon057's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Xenophobia

blueberrydahlia's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Rape

pomoevareads's review

adventurous emotional informative 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

4.0

A beautiful and heartrending story of the strength of female friendship, women’s rights and activism in Tehran set against the backdrop of the revolution. 

Kamali has written some special characters in The Lion Women of Tehran. Ellie and Homa meet as seven year old girls in Tehran’s downtown where Ellie and her mother have had to move because of a change to their financial situation. Ellie is envious of the close knit family of Homa and wishes she could be part of their family. Her own mother, comes across as selfish and snobbish and doesn’t allow Ellie to invite her new friend Homa to their home. Ellie’s mother sees Homa as below their station. The young girls are inseparable and it isn’t until Ellie and her mother move back to their uptown area of past that the bonds between the girls are strained. We see them come together again for a time and then a pivotal event creates a divide between them. Then many years later, one of the women sends a letter to the other with a request. That is where the story begins. 

I had been hearing great things about this book and knew I had to get my hands on it. I am so glad I did as I feel better for having read it. Many of my friends growing up had families that had left Iran because of the politics. I have a love for the food and remember being schooled on how to hold the sugar cube in my mouth when I drank tea from special cups. I feel this book would be a good introduction to the changes in Iran over the last 75 years and a snapshot of where it sits today in comparison. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

louiepotterbook's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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: Death, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

sarryluv99's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and War