Reviews

Arrival by Nataliya Deleva

Only show reviews with written explanations

whatismichaelareading's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

3.0

sharkybookshelf's review

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5.0

Fleeing the tentacles of an abusive childhood, a young woman has left her home country and is trying to rebuild her life elsewhere.

I went into this one expecting it to be very good - after all, it was recommended and lent by a friend whose book taste I trust - but I honestly didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.

Principally, it’s a story of the lasting effects of trauma, when love and abuse have been synonymous - whether experience physically as a child, or psychologically as an adult - and how that can end up reverberating through somebody’s whole life. The insidiousness of it is very well written. Actually, the book in general is very well written - it’s fragmented, but this works perfectly with the story.

There’s also quite a bit about motherhood, especially the experience of adapting to motherhood, and all the fears that can come with that. And, my favourite topics of identity and belonging also feature heavily - feeling tied to two different places yet also “between” them and no longer quite belonging in either. These themes might have been secondary (though everything is intertwined, of course) but they added richness and depth to the story and resonated with me far more strongly than I had perhaps anticipated.

A heartfelt, fragmented story of the long-term reverberations of abuse, intertwined with an exploration of identity, belonging and adapting to motherhood.

biobeetle's review

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

amybrooklyn's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

atthezenith's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

Content Warnings

thepageandthestage's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Beautifully written and full of hope. I was worried I’d be reading a harrowing account of domestic abuse, but instead I found myself reading a stunning piece of literature that constantly reminded me to be hopeful. It treated the subject seriously and respectfully but didn’t use its extreme nature to shock or abhor which made the book much more informative and empathetic.

Content Warnings