Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

24 reviews

nessreadsalot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

This beautifully written debut novel from Susan Abulhawa tells the story of four generations of the Palestinian Abulheja family. Beginning with their forced removal from Ein Hod in 1948 to the Jenin refugee camp where Amal is born and brings us through her life. We experience her childhood, love, loss, marriage and motherhood. 

From heartbreaking moments of loss to the wonderfully magical stories of joy this is a wonderful book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, Death, Child death, Blood, Grief, Mental illness, Torture, and War

hegesteindal74's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

In need of some editing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Deportation, Genocide, Child death, War, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

The network of pain throughout this family, each responding in a different way to dispossession (of land, of culture, of family) and death. Mornings in Jenin is a gruelling read that made my heart ache and never let up, even to the last page. But it's also full of tender moments between these loving and hopeful characters and beautiful writing that gives a sweet reprieve from the dark. Careful, considered language that makes the ache of losses deeper and more impactful.
A truly outstanding debut, I will continue my journey through Susan Abulhawa's writing knowing I'm in the hands of a talented author. I'm struck by the years of apartheid covered in this novel and its echoes in the present day genocide of Gazans and continued oppression of Palestinians in their homelands and beyond. Free Palestine.

"Love, David
... Love, Ismael"💔🇵🇸

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Child death, Blood, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Torture, and Sexual assault

nineinchnails's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

 this book broke me. this was definitely hard to get through at some parts, knowing it was first published in 2006, because despite it being 2023 almost nothing has changed. this is technically historical fiction but so much of this has been written around real life events in palestine and even if the characters are fictional their trauma isn't. the story is beautifully written (albeit slightly confusing with the switching of narrator) and gut-wrenchingly painful. it follows the lives of 4 generations within a single family against the backdrop of 1948-2002 palestine.

it feels weird to rate this book like i would other fiction novels, since many of these fictional events are recurring as we speak. what i will say is that anyone even slightly interested in learning about palestine stands to gain a lot from reading this book. while it is definitely heavy and dark, it shows so much beauty in the land and culture too. the story switches hands between characters a fair amount here but i think it works in its favour and is necessary to tell this particular story. i don't think anything i write here could do this book justice but i loved this book from front to cover and i don't think the contents will ever leave my mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Grief, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child death, Gore, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Hate crime, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexism, Sexual content, Dementia, Blood, Confinement, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Antisemitism, and Torture

Minor: Incest, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, and Rape

elsaschuster's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

5.0

Especially read in the context of late 2023, this book breaks my heart. This isn’t ancient history, this is now. 

Free Palestine 🍉🇵🇸

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Blood, Colonisation, War, Death, Police brutality, and Violence

ollie_again's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Violence, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Gun violence, Torture, and Child abuse

Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Child death, Blood, and Mental illness

Minor: Pedophilia and Incest

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Genocide, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Religious bigotry, and War

Moderate: Kidnapping, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Dementia, Violence, Rape, and Police brutality

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, War, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, Torture, Blood, and Sexism

Minor: Rape and Pedophilia

rina_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I was left crying, numb and empty after reading this book. Where do I begin? I knew it was going to be hear-wrenching and I knew that I will feel certain kind of sadness so it was hard for me to start this book and it was hard for me to finish. It has taken me over a month to complete. At one point, I broke down crying at a part when the main character couldn't cry. The story wasn't blaming one side. It was confusing and deeply painful. The question I was asking myself was How did people let this happen? How is it still happening? And that hurts the most when reading the book, knowing that Palestine is still under siege.
When reading the blurb of the book, I assumed the book would be a dual story line of the Palestinian family and the Israeli family but instead we are following Amal and her connection to everything - her heritage, her womanhood, her relationships, her hopes/dreams - are all shaped by ever-changing landscape of Palestine. I admired the descriptive language in this book when it came to describing the inherent love between the Palestinians and their land. There's a strong sense of history, heritage and ownership that is just torn apart but it's still home to Amal when she returns.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, Xenophobia, and Genocide

There are some graphic parts of the book that will be hard to digest and will make you uncomfortable but it's the reality and it hurts.

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, Colonisation, Blood, War, Violence, Racism, Medical content, Hate crime, Grief, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Death, Antisemitism, and Alcoholism