Scan barcode
risemini's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Abortion, Alcohol, and War
adrizeuza's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is objectively not a bad book, but I feel I must have missed something. The writing is fine, but I think what drew me out of the story - a fascinating plot about a Hamlet play being made in the Occupied Territories - was the main character. A Palestinian-born theatre actress living in London, away from her sister who is a professor at an Israeli university, she is the first-person narrator of her return visit to her native land, after a personal crisis and the end of a toxic relationship. The problem is that I found her POV to be so absolutely boring and her insights mostly dry, too cerebral, and uninteresting. I wish we had multiple POVs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Sexual content
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
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
mmefish's review
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
Amazing. I'm so glad I've stumbled upon this bookâit is, to me, an embodiment of a perfect novel.
I never know what to say in a 5 star review; I just loved everything about it.
I never know what to say in a 5 star review; I just loved everything about it.
The sex was like his rehearsal room: he drew me out, I waited for his approval, his adjustment, his suggestion; he the leader, I the star. I told him one evening that I wanted him to destroy me. I was shocked by the sound of that word in my mouth. He responded by becoming slightly violent, although the violence was more suggested than actual, more fleeting reminders of his physical strength. The oblivion I was asking for but did not understand persisted on the horizon of our affair like a summer thundercloud, and in the nights I ran through its long shadow as though I might reach it, while it remained there, taunting me from a distance, unbroken rain.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Islamophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Sexual content