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ues02's review against another edition
5.0
Is this?? Possibly?? One of the best books ive ever read?? Possibly??
t0rixoxo's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
honestly, when first reading this book I thought I'd be able to give it five stars easily. I couldn't put it down. but at some point, I wasn't able to understand what the book was trying to tell me, and it just confused me for the rest of the book.
don't get me wrong, I absolutely adored the book! I couldnt put it down for days! but something switched during part two and three that I can't decipher. even after reading part three, i couldn't figure it out.
but anyways, 4 stars. it was able to keep me hooked for a few days and I loved the way it introduced me to many different aspects of Egyptian culture. the experience of an Egyptian American woman vs an Egyptian man from the rural parts and their relationship was very intriguing to me.
don't get me wrong, I absolutely adored the book! I couldnt put it down for days! but something switched during part two and three that I can't decipher. even after reading part three, i couldn't figure it out.
but anyways, 4 stars. it was able to keep me hooked for a few days and I loved the way it introduced me to many different aspects of Egyptian culture. the experience of an Egyptian American woman vs an Egyptian man from the rural parts and their relationship was very intriguing to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia
Minor: Classism
orsic13's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sofiephox's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sophiearaujo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.75
madyhugh's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
melisahebe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
badgalnat's review
5.0
6 stars!! I have never felt Australian enough, and I have never felt Egyptian enough. I have always felt stuck between two worlds, in what feels like a new and often lonely ‘inbetween’. For years I have yearned for this home that does not exist. And for once, this part of me feels seen in a book.
Maybe I’m completely biased, but I really loved this book. I love how this book does not claim to have any right answers. I love it for bringing up such intricate parts of Egyptian culture — like having to learn how to cross the street (lol). I love how it asks all the right questions — “Can home be passed from one body to the next, like a secret whispered in the ear?”, “If an Egyptian cannot speak english, who is telling his story?”.
But the part I love the most about this book is explained best in another review:
“At its heart it's a deeply ambivalent novel, not in the sense that it tries to make gray what is black and white, but rather that it is interested in interrogating the dynamics of those gray areas: how things can seem black one way and then white the next, how you can have power in one moment then be robbed of it in the next. And this grayness of power is explored in so many ways, all intertwined and complex and hard to disentangle from each other. There is the power of nationality, of class, of gender, of culture.”
Also, shoutout to there being a fellow Christian Orthodox Egyptian in the book, even though he’s probably not the greatest guy.
Anyways, I miss Egypt. And I really miss the version of Egypt that my parents tell me about from when they were young; a version of Egypt that I’ll never get to meet. So here’s just a few of my many favourite parts of this book:
(I have not stopped thinking about this section of the book, and I don’t think I will stop)
“They treated it as a point of pride, even a form of activism, to drink despite so much flagrant religiosity everywhere else. Am I convinced by this? I don't know. In New York, alcohol isn't radical, does not set you against the grain or expose you to hatred the way wearing a hijab does or praying on the grass in Central Park, so it's disorienting now to be in a city where every Friday, mats are rolled out onto the street and businesses close up so the men can pray under the sun. Are those that don't participate, those who drink and sport tattoos, men with earrings, girls with shaved heads, discriminated against? Sure, we're outnumbered, but are we persecuted? Or is it the hijabis who are not allowed in "clean" restaurants and hotel swimming pools (as I learned from one of my students' essays) the ones I should stand up and defend? I am outside of my context, confused about where the margins and the pressure points are. Who has the power? Where is the center? I haven't seen a woman's knees since I got here, and no one has seen my knees either. There is Quran playing everywhere, and people drag God's name into every conversation. Every time I get into a cab, I am given a sermon by the driver about the wrongness of women looking like men, and why don't I cover up my head, seeing as I don't have hair anyway? But when I leave the car, having paid less than a dollar for a half-hour ride, I'm confused about my right to offense, just as I'm confused about drinking as an act of resistance. There is something entitled about it. Yes, there is something rich.”
“How to say ‘passive-aggressive’ in Arabic? ‘Guilt trip’? ‘Victim complex’? How to say ‘emotional black-mail’? What is unforgivable in English, in Arabic has no name I know.”
(Talking about some English guy in Cairo) “He doesn't hear himself, slurring entitlement paranoia: a guest in this country ….. Meanwhile, unlike the poorest fellah, he doesn't wash his asshole when he shits in porcelain.” (LMAOOOOO)
“If I had been able to speak to you in English, you would not have thought I was condescending toward the street dog. I can see it happening almost before it happens—all the ways I will be misunderstood. I am trying to express myself with the vocabulary I have in Arabic. I am stupid in this Arabic.”
Maybe I’m completely biased, but I really loved this book. I love how this book does not claim to have any right answers. I love it for bringing up such intricate parts of Egyptian culture — like having to learn how to cross the street (lol). I love how it asks all the right questions — “Can home be passed from one body to the next, like a secret whispered in the ear?”, “If an Egyptian cannot speak english, who is telling his story?”.
But the part I love the most about this book is explained best in another review:
“At its heart it's a deeply ambivalent novel, not in the sense that it tries to make gray what is black and white, but rather that it is interested in interrogating the dynamics of those gray areas: how things can seem black one way and then white the next, how you can have power in one moment then be robbed of it in the next. And this grayness of power is explored in so many ways, all intertwined and complex and hard to disentangle from each other. There is the power of nationality, of class, of gender, of culture.”
Also, shoutout to there being a fellow Christian Orthodox Egyptian in the book, even though he’s probably not the greatest guy.
Anyways, I miss Egypt. And I really miss the version of Egypt that my parents tell me about from when they were young; a version of Egypt that I’ll never get to meet. So here’s just a few of my many favourite parts of this book:
(I have not stopped thinking about this section of the book, and I don’t think I will stop)
“They treated it as a point of pride, even a form of activism, to drink despite so much flagrant religiosity everywhere else. Am I convinced by this? I don't know. In New York, alcohol isn't radical, does not set you against the grain or expose you to hatred the way wearing a hijab does or praying on the grass in Central Park, so it's disorienting now to be in a city where every Friday, mats are rolled out onto the street and businesses close up so the men can pray under the sun. Are those that don't participate, those who drink and sport tattoos, men with earrings, girls with shaved heads, discriminated against? Sure, we're outnumbered, but are we persecuted? Or is it the hijabis who are not allowed in "clean" restaurants and hotel swimming pools (as I learned from one of my students' essays) the ones I should stand up and defend? I am outside of my context, confused about where the margins and the pressure points are. Who has the power? Where is the center? I haven't seen a woman's knees since I got here, and no one has seen my knees either. There is Quran playing everywhere, and people drag God's name into every conversation. Every time I get into a cab, I am given a sermon by the driver about the wrongness of women looking like men, and why don't I cover up my head, seeing as I don't have hair anyway? But when I leave the car, having paid less than a dollar for a half-hour ride, I'm confused about my right to offense, just as I'm confused about drinking as an act of resistance. There is something entitled about it. Yes, there is something rich.”
“How to say ‘passive-aggressive’ in Arabic? ‘Guilt trip’? ‘Victim complex’? How to say ‘emotional black-mail’? What is unforgivable in English, in Arabic has no name I know.”
(Talking about some English guy in Cairo) “He doesn't hear himself, slurring entitlement paranoia: a guest in this country ….. Meanwhile, unlike the poorest fellah, he doesn't wash his asshole when he shits in porcelain.” (LMAOOOOO)
“If I had been able to speak to you in English, you would not have thought I was condescending toward the street dog. I can see it happening almost before it happens—all the ways I will be misunderstood. I am trying to express myself with the vocabulary I have in Arabic. I am stupid in this Arabic.”
dkludt23's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0