Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

My Pen is the Wing of a Bird by Lucy Hannah

7 reviews

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.25

 My Pen is the Wing of a Bird is an anthology of short stories written by Afghani women before the fall of Kabul in 2021. While there are the expected explorations of loss, violence, and misogyny other stories focus on women’s power, agency and resistance. I especially enjoyed the village women cooperatively digging a lengthy ditch to protect their village from flood waters - much to the amazement of the men, and female workmates standing in solidarity against sexual harassment, even if it did cost them their jobs. Some stories centred on events like a suicide bombing at a wedding or a rocket attack interrupting a regular working day, which were totally outside my experience. Others, like that of the young girl who had to buy the red boots regardless of practicalities or the young women who simply couldn’t sleep well when away from home, not even when she took her favourite pillow with her, felt universal. What I enjoyed most about these stories was the way they gave a more complete picture of women’s lives in Afghanistan than the news headlines and that they were told by the women themselves. Fiction yes, but very much grounded in real world experiences. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

revafisheye's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, and Violence

chattie_the_mad_chatter's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Mix of stories giving a glimpse of different lives and stories by a variety of authors from Afghanistan. The story of how this collection was put together was inspiring. I don't often enjoy short stories, as I want more! But these are talented writers I want to hear more from. Some stories I loved, some were not my style, but I am pleased I got to expand my living experience by hearing of bravery, perseverance, tragedy, hope, poverty, domestic abuse, and day to day living from these authors. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Sexism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, and Domestic abuse

andsoitgoes's review

4.5

Truly excellent short stories. I highly recommend this compilation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

babymoomoocow's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is definitely a book everyone should read. Some of them are definitely not as interesting as others but that’s per what people like, which is why I’m wanting to share this with everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Death, War, and Sexual assault

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, and War

avispa_nightriver's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense 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

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, War, Toxic friendship, Sexism, and Racism