Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

17 reviews

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Mental illness, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Death, War, Sexual violence, Rape, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Vomit, Self harm, Torture, Child abuse, and Rape

Minor: Confinement, Slavery, Trafficking, and Torture

janie_v's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

coup de coeur 🤍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Violence, and War

ceebee86's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is the love letter to Syria.

I read this for an AAPI month challenge and I'm so glad I powdered through--not because it was hard for me to be interested, but because the subject matter is quite intense. Yet at the same time it is so wistful and gorgeous. I was extremely stressed reading it, and I was praying so desperately for good things to happen. 

I read a lot of stories with romance but this is the first I've read in a long time where I really genuinely felt love between the two characters coming through the pages.

I thought it was beautiful the way the story is dotted with "what ifs". They were so melancholic and dreamy to read. And though this is about Syria, I do think the themes and stories of the plight of the refugee transcends time and history.

The twist near the end part of the book stunned me. It was set up artfully and I felt myself react quite strongly, as if I was there experiencing the same shock.

Gorgeous book, if you can stomach the content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, War, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Genocide

Moderate: Eating disorder and Pregnancy

rosinawrites7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

Clear motivations of characters made the plot satisfying. Descriptive memories really filled out the main characters. For my writing I wanna remember:

link between Layla’s painting and the sea scene at the end was cool. And can I use Khawl’s character for My Friend Anxiety?

 

Twist with Layla was great and never saw it coming

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Body horror, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Medical content, Death, Police brutality, Mental illness, Gore, Genocide, Death of parent, Confinement, Child death, and Blood

sissizc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Death

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

safiyyah_0's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

As long as the lemon trees grow, hope will never die.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, War, Child death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Grief, Murder, Gore, and Torture

serendipity421's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and War

Minor: Vomit

aimee_aj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Brilliant. Harrowing. Heartbreaking. This is an important book in highlighting the atrocities occurring in Syria and also the plight of refugees. I strongly advise you to check the trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Death, War, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Child death, Physical abuse, and Rape

izzcharles's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow was one of my most-anticipated reads of 2022, and I finally read it. It was painful. It was raw. It was heartbreaking. It was—and is—real. Zoulfa Katouh's love letter to Syria. I could feel her heart bleed onto every page, in every sentence, every word, every letter. I learned so much from this book. I couldn't have seen that post twist coming from a mile away.

"*Might.* 
What a word. It holds infinite possibilities of a life that could have been. So many options stacked on top of the other, like cards waiting for a player to pick up and choose. To try their luck."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Torture, Murder, Sexual assault, War, and Child abuse

lenchen25's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Violence, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death of parent, Child death, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Genocide, Death, Child abuse, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Eating disorder