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lizziaha's review
4.25
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
shieldbearer's review
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
vanessamariebooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Abortion, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Death, Homophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Ableism, Dementia, and Outing
brynalexa's review
- 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
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
dragongirl271's review
- 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
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
This book is phenomenal. It's absolutely fantastic in so many ways and I've been putting off this review for over a week because I simply cannot come up with the words that can do it justice.
This is the fictional story of Nahr, a Palestinian woman imprisoned by Israel for her part in the resistance against Israeli settlers. She's in a solitary confinement cell called The Cube with her only human interaction being guards and reporters. After finally getting access to pen and paper, she spends her time writing out her life story, which are the narrative flashbacks that make up the book.
Nahr's tale is one of love, loss, desperation, resiliency, radicalization, resistance, and survival. Her story and her relationships are complicated and messy. An entire book could be written just analyzing her relationship to Um Baraq, who throughout the book plays villain and best friend and savior and confidante. There's quite a few full-circle moments in her relationships that just elevate the storytelling of the novel. Abulhawa is so good at working out all the complexities in a character that make them feel so real and human. I've thought about this book every day since I first started reading it and, were it not for the #JanuaryPagesChallenge, probably would've taken a week or two off from even attempting to read another book to simply just let it sit with me.
1st-person POV. Mixed pacing. Two timelines with the majority of the narrative in the flashbacks leading up to present day. A complicated journey of resisting oppression in many different ways.
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: War, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Grief, Abortion, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Racism, and Torture
jess_lynn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
Moderate: Trafficking, Toxic friendship, and Police brutality
Minor: Miscarriage and War
samdalefox's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
This was a glorious and heart wrenching scream of Palestinian identity. Nahr is a woman of many names and many countries. The narrative showcases the challenges faced by the Palestinian people while emphasizing their remarkable resilience, demonstrating their capacity to find hope and joy amidst heartbreak and injustice. It is an ordinary tale that showcases the extraordinary spirit of Palestinian people. Tough to get through (see content warnings), but a great way to get people to recognise Palestinians as wonderful, complex, oppressed people who need our solidarity and support.
Favourite quotes
"I find that reporters and writers that come here don't actually want to listen to me or hear my thoughts, except where I might validate what they already believe" .
"I had not known the extent of our subordination until I knew what it meant to be respected."
"When powerless, following world events only highlights your impotence"
"I should have said it again, that her embroidery was more special than any desk job could be, that she was an artist, that western images of professional women don't have to apply to us, that concepts of respectability and modernity or manufactured".
"The ceaseless accumulation of injustice made me want to fight the world"
"Can something expected still be surprising?"
"The belonging and acceptance I had found was an illusion."
"I colonised the colonisers' space of authority. I made myself free in chains and held that courtroom captive to my freedom."
"The state will always find a way to imprison those who are truly free. Who do not accept social, economic, or political chains."
"You must accept them and accept them with love, for these innocent people have no other hope. They are in effect still trapped in a history which they do not understand and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it." - James Baldwin
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Classism, Confinement, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Torture, War, Sexism, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs
Minor: Antisemitism, Murder, Hate crime, Infertility, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, and Grief
The protagonist does sex work for a while, which carries the usual increased risk of harms listed above.yourbookishbff's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, War, Torture, Grief, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Colonisation, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Death, and Trafficking
Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Cancer, Misogyny, and Deportation