Reviews tagging 'Murder'

When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar

5 reviews

p1gu1's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

it destroyed me in all the right ways

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content

jordynkw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Both tender and heartbreaking, Asghar shares a story of three orphaned siblings processing their grief while taking care of one another as they grow up. When We Were Sisters is told from the perspective of the youngest sibling, Kausar, and while I enjoyed the story, I wish we could have gotten the perspectives of the older sisters as well, Aisha and Noreen. I also wish more could have been said about gender, which was just barely explored (though I think you could say that to be the case for a lot of other themes that appeared in this book).

Something outstanding about this book is the lyricism and creative approach to storytelling. Asghar’s writing style demonstrates that they put a considerable amount of thought into every word in order to create beautiful moments throughout the book. But, again, I wish some of the themes that were brought up (e.g., gender, religion, sibling relationships, etc.) were explored more in depth, even if it meant sacrificing some of the beautiful writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Racism, Murder, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Islamophobia

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

I liked this for what it was, but I definitely prefer Fatimah Asghar's poetry collection to this.
I thought the relationship of the sisters with one another as well as to their uncle was well-written. Their living circumstances were tense and difficult to read about and kept me invested in their futures. I wanted to keep reading to see them out of this cramped, unhappy apartment. They look after themselves and each other and are quite disconnected from the outside world. 

There was a lot that didn't seem to fit with the sisters' story though. While it's all written poetically, some portions felt too hard to connect to the greater story and that left me jarred out of the momentum of the narrative.

I'll keep my eyes open for more from this author who is seriously such a talented poet. This one was promising and while it didn't quite live up to my hopes, there was lots to admire and love in this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Islamophobia, Murder, and Racism

ambereen's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Moderate: Sexism, Murder, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Child abuse, Rape, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Racism, and Emotional abuse