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nineinchnails's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
read_alittle_whim's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Death
elsaschuster's review against another edition
- 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
Free Palestine 🍉🇵🇸
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Blood, Colonisation, War, Death, Police brutality, and Violence
purely_romantic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I finished this book minutes before writing this review so forgive me if this is not as polished, nor as coherent. A stream of consciousness is perhaps more appropriate because I cannot review *Mornings in Jenin* as if style and plot and narrative structure were at the forefront of my mind. I do not care about technicalities because I can only speak about how this made me feel. About how I am crying even as I write this, and my grief for an entire people is too large for words, too large for my body.
Language fails me at this moment as I try to describe what reading this book at this particular moment in time feels like. At some points, the images described on the page of people wailing at the sight of their dead families, mothers crying over their children’s corpses, children being shot as they played were blurring with the real footage I see every day. There is no separation of fact from fiction, only a grim, bleak reality of endless grief and rage.
I cannot care about literary analysis while reading this because to do so is to create a cognitive distance entrenched in me by Western academic disciplines that requires I observe from afar. I reject that practice at this moment. While I have in no way experienced these levels of pain and fear, there is a generational sense memory I carry in my bones that knows colonial violence, that knows how a heart can break when my land is ravaged, that feels like shattering when my people are hurting. Through these four generations of characters, each who experiences the same violence over and over again, Abulhawa creates the sense of an endless cycle of occupation, of stolen land and dreams, a never-ending nightmare of lost loved ones and homes, with only smatterings of reprieves that could be pierced by a bullet, by a bomb at any moment. Yehya’s pain was Hasan’s pain was Dalia’s pain was Yousef’s pain was Amal’s pain was my pain. It should be all our pain to watch other human beings suffer like this.
And yet, through all this horror, my god did I feel the characters’ unceasing pride and love for their country. The fondness for their homes, the laughter and joy at being around family, the intricacies of large, community-based cultures that I recognize in my own society, shone through like a beacon. The cheeky pranks of children, the matchmaking relatives, the sounds of older family members’ never-ending advice and instructions knitted the fabric of ancient traditions and customs, livelihoods and sacred love for their home. I am so grateful I was allowed to look into these moments of joy and endurance, that I see still in the faces of the adults and children of Ga*a.
Saying I’m glad this book exists feels strange because these horrors should have never happened. But I am. I am privileged to know the people of Pa*est*ne through the journeys of these characters, to find moments of connection and to bear witness to their past and present. I pray for a day when writers and artists need only write of their love for their olive trees and orange trees, of the sea and their bustling cities, of their families and the nuances of Arab culture, and don’t have to beg for the world to see them.
CWs: war; gen*ci*e; eth*ic clean*ing; injury and death in graphic detail; forced exile and displacements; grief; mentions of tor*ure, assault and beatings; kidnapping and child abduction; oppression, racism and xenophobia and Islamaphobia
Graphic: Grief, Death, Genocide, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Gun violence
mariekeroos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: War, Racism, Gore, Colonisation, Violence, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Mass/school shootings, Islamophobia, and Child death
sangsmiles's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Torture, Death, Genocide, Racism, Violence, War, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Police brutality
katharina90's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
"How does one live in a world that turns away from such injustice for so long? Is this what it means to be Palestinian, Mother?"
"For if life had taught her anything, it was that healing and peace can begin only with acknowledgment of wrongs committed."
Graphic: Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Torture and Confinement
Minor: Rape and Alcoholism
emzireads's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Genocide, Colonisation, Child death, and Grief
readwmichelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, Child death, Islamophobia, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Violence, Police brutality, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Torture, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape
alisha94's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Colonisation, Rape, Gun violence, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Racism, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Deportation, Death, Sexual violence, Genocide, and Death of parent