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cassielaj's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book offered a perspective I’ve never encountered and a great insight into a small sliver of lived experience in Palestine. I appreciated the theme of art/theatre as revolutionary and the bleeding of the play’s themes into the characters real lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Colonisation, and War
vivalasvaiva's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Colonisation
Moderate: Miscarriage and Abortion
isobel_laura's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Violence, Islamophobia, and War
Moderate: Miscarriage
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Alcohol
booksillremember's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Really interesting to learn about the everyday life of Palestinians and the layers of privilege and oppression that affect different Palestinians differently depending on what class they belong to, what languages they know, where they live, and what ID they hold.
The book also makes you think about the complex connection between art, audience and resistance.
However, I almost DNFed this because I couldn't connect with the narrator - she's too much of a teenager for a 38-year-old woman which feeds into the cliché of the self-absorbed and vain actress. The relationships between Sonia and her sister (and wider family) and Sonia and director Mariam were really promising but ultimately underwhelming. I think this novel would have benefited from multiple POVs.
The book also makes you think about the complex connection between art, audience and resistance.
However, I almost DNFed this because I couldn't connect with the narrator - she's too much of a teenager for a 38-year-old woman which feeds into the cliché of the self-absorbed and vain actress. The relationships between Sonia and her sister (and wider family) and Sonia and director Mariam were really promising but ultimately underwhelming. I think this novel would have benefited from multiple POVs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, and War
Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion
raes_library's review
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
i have tried to collect my thoughts on this book so many times, and have failed each one. this is incredible and i foresee myself thinking about it for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and War
anushareflects's review
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A unique story focused on the Israel-Palestine conflict through the lens of Hamlet.
Very intriguing writing using a theatre production of Hamlet to convey underlying meanings of the conflict in Israel-Palestine. A good book for theatre nerds or people who want fiction based in Palestine and focused on Palestinian perspective of the war. But there are a lot of unnecessary details about the protagonist who by the way is so unbearably dull. The audiobook narrator is simply horrendous and I think I lost so much of the charm of this book because the narrator straight up botched the reading. There are no inflections, it’s just read in a monotone. Overall, interesting plot but please don’t get the audio version on audible.
Very intriguing writing using a theatre production of Hamlet to convey underlying meanings of the conflict in Israel-Palestine. A good book for theatre nerds or people who want fiction based in Palestine and focused on Palestinian perspective of the war. But there are a lot of unnecessary details about the protagonist who by the way is so unbearably dull. The audiobook narrator is simply horrendous and I think I lost so much of the charm of this book because the narrator straight up botched the reading. There are no inflections, it’s just read in a monotone. Overall, interesting plot but please don’t get the audio version on audible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Miscarriage, and War
abisnail564's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Islamophobia and Murder
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content
barbarella85's review against another edition
Soft-DNF. The audiobook narration is not for me, everything just sounds monotonous and boring. Will pick up the physical book once it's available at my library
Content Warnings
Minor: Miscarriage
dragongirl271's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
“'Sometimes a play is like an operation from the old days....You plan it, there's a script, but you never totally know how it's going to go. It's there. It's gone. It's like a firework.’”
I need more of Hammad's writing in my life. I need a physical copy of this book to read again, annotate, and analyze like a literary assignment from an English class. I want to reread this and also reread Hamlet along with it so I can analyze the play with the cast. I want to throw this book at others and listen to their takeaways to see what they caught that I missed. This is going to be one of those books that my future grandchildren are going to find among my things beat up and full of sticky notes and underlined passages.
In this book, we follow Sonia Nasir's summer journey from her home in London to visit her sister in Haifa. While there, she meets Mariam who convinces her to play Gertrude in an Arabic production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Like any theater production, the following weeks are full of bonding, philosophizing, drama amongst cast, and finding pieces of yourself in the characters. Sonia's return to Palestine after years away also leads to personal discovery and reconnection to her family and identity.
I loved Hammad's use of mixing 1st person POV for Sonia and using a 3rd person script layout for the rehearsal scenes. I also enjoyed how smoothly Hammad writes complex discussions between multiple characters. From the start of rehearsals, the cast discuss what message they want to convey with their production and what it even means to perform Hamlet in the West Bank. The reader feels as if they are part of the discussion and it truly feels nuanced and organic. That's not an easy feat.
The ending! Entire panel discussions could be held just on the last few chapters.
“The Play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.”
I need more of Hammad's writing in my life. I need a physical copy of this book to read again, annotate, and analyze like a literary assignment from an English class. I want to reread this and also reread Hamlet along with it so I can analyze the play with the cast. I want to throw this book at others and listen to their takeaways to see what they caught that I missed. This is going to be one of those books that my future grandchildren are going to find among my things beat up and full of sticky notes and underlined passages.
In this book, we follow Sonia Nasir's summer journey from her home in London to visit her sister in Haifa. While there, she meets Mariam who convinces her to play Gertrude in an Arabic production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Like any theater production, the following weeks are full of bonding, philosophizing, drama amongst cast, and finding pieces of yourself in the characters. Sonia's return to Palestine after years away also leads to personal discovery and reconnection to her family and identity.
I loved Hammad's use of mixing 1st person POV for Sonia and using a 3rd person script layout for the rehearsal scenes. I also enjoyed how smoothly Hammad writes complex discussions between multiple characters. From the start of rehearsals, the cast discuss what message they want to convey with their production and what it even means to perform Hamlet in the West Bank. The reader feels as if they are part of the discussion and it truly feels nuanced and organic. That's not an easy feat.
The ending! Entire panel discussions could be held just on the last few chapters.
“The Play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Death, Infidelity, and Torture