Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

30 reviews

lizziaha's review

4.25

This is a story that spans years, and yet feels like only a very small part of the overall story. It reads like a memoir, and I honestly had a hard time reading it. It was hard to wrestle with how my opinions and pre-conceived notions occasionally differed from Nahr’s. And it was difficult to witness such human suffering. My brain kept trying to negate the seriousness of the events of this book because they are fictional, so I had to keep reminding myself to Palestinians face this and more at the hands of Israel. It made reading this book a very involved process for me. Which is why I think it is a book that is essential to the canon, and should be read and studied more widely. The characters all felt very complex and flawed, and abulhawa gave them space for that. There were some moments of real beauty and lyricism in the written word. Particularly in depictions of the Palestinian culture and people. From the river to the sea 🇵🇸

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Deportation, Grief, Rape, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, War, Racism, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Ableism

Minor: Antisemitism, Bullying, Cancer, and Death of parent

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

aschmitttyy's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This one was hard for me to get through. I felt connected to the characters and I wanted to see what happened to them, but there were so many different parts to the story that I feel like I lost some of that emotion.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, Colonisation, and Sexual content

Minor: Grief, Abortion, Deportation, and War

brynalexa's review

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

michelle_my_belle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book was so beautifully written. It was historical fiction that also felt so relevant to today. It helped me understand more about the Palestinian history and experience. Nahr's story is so raw and heartbreaking and her strength and resistance was moving. The author uses such powerful imagery and explores the complexities of people in creating characters with so much depth. Most of the time, making them neither good, nor bad, simple human. I will probably be thinking about this book for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Islamophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Abortion, Colonisation, Torture, Xenophobia, Racism, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Excrement, War, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Cancer

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

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

chi__'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation, War, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Cancer, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Miscarriage

thienly's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Abulhawa's writing feels almost poetic at times. I especially enjoyed the way she depicted the complicated relationships Nahr had with other women in her life. Parts of the book really validate the sentiment "men suck" 👹. Nahr goes through so much trauma as a woman and a refugee that when she gets any sort of relief I am ridiculously happy for her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Colonisation, Rape, War, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gun violence and Antisemitism

Minor: Torture, Death of parent, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use

sofiabsilva's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Cancer, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Grief, Violence, Sexual harassment, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Sexual violence