Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

155 reviews

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

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

leaknezevic's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Medical content, Blood, and Genocide

skye_era_books's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

I don’t know that I have ever read a book more heart wrenching than this. My heart broke and put itself together again many times throughout this story. And the fact that this is the reality of many Syrians absolutely kills me. I beg that we someday see a Free Syria, Free Palestine, Free Sudan, Free Congo, and all those who are fighting for freedom. 

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Content Warnings

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

behindherpages's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

phenomenal. i truly have no words:

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Medical content, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Islamophobia

smailliweiluj'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While I agree with some criticism about the author's politics, I think this is a very important book. In the author's note Katouh writes that the world focuses on the numbers and politics of Syria, and that this book serves to focus on the emotion and the stories of the individuals. Because of that I think it would be wrong to judge this book simply because I do not agree with the political affiliation. What do I agree with? Surviving. I agree that the people matter far more than the politics. I agree that we need to know their stories and remember that despite global conflict, our lives matter. Nobody should be condemned to torture, murder, and banishment because they were born somewhere that another country wants to claim or exploit. History and politics are very important but we cannot lose sight of the fact that history is defined by the people, not numbers. We must never allow a civilization to be reduced to statistics because in doing so we are condemning them to suffer and forgetting their humanity, while also forgetting our own.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Genocide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Pregnancy, War, Death of parent, and Torture

a_girl_living_her_best_life's review against another edition

Jag slutade läsa den för att jag tyckte att det var en lite för jobbig historia för mig. Men det är en fint skriven bok. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Child death, Gun violence, and Body horror

Minor: Pregnancy

ashleereadsbooks692's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Blood, War, Mental illness, Child death, Cursing, Rape, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

justagirlwithbooks's review against another edition

5.0

"Every lemon will bring forth a child, and the lemons will never die out."

Oh my gosh. Wow. I have no words to describe what I feel about this book. From the harrowing, haunting moments, to the Studio Ghibli references, to the medical information, to the Arab culture, to the amazing Muslim representation, I loved all of it. This book made me happy and sad and a whole bunch of other emotions. It resonates so much with what's happening right now in the world, and it's not just in Syria. I adore this book. Even the authors note and acknowledgements sections of this book were so cute and wholesome and I loved it so much. This story was devastatingly hopeful, and so reminiscent of A Thousand Splendid Suns. This story was such an important story to tell, and I wish there were more like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Torture

PTSD

awebofstories's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Child death, Torture, Violence, and War