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Reviews tagging 'War'
The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, Laura L. Sullivan
9 reviews
creolelitbelle's review against another edition
4.0
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess's story gave me hope and nearly made me cry multiple times. She escaped some of the harsher realities of the war that some Bosniaks suffered, but she still struggled to survive and make a life for herself in the world thanks to the war. Maci (the cat) is a larger than life character in the memoir, and the author's note emphasizes that she was a huge impact on her family and life. My heart broke for the author when she described the sad pieces from her life during and after the war, but learning of her successes today is inspiring.
Graphic: Genocide, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Islamophobia, and War
Moderate: Grief
jennswan's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Islamophobia, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Moderate: Gore, Racial slurs, Rape, and Animal cruelty
josh_goetz's review
5.0
“I am ashamed for my people, for the Serbs and for the human race. We have been humans for 200,000 years, we have had written language for 5,000 years, we have been to space, yet somehow we cannot learn not to hate each other.”
What an absolutely incredible and heartbreaking book. I feel embarrassed to have gone this long without learning about the Bosnian genocide and I am disgusted by the way in which the US so easily ignores and misdirects around global genocide in the name of protecting its own racist agendas.
It is impossible to read this book without drawing parallels to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and I fear that this genocide too will be covered up and brushed away like that of the Bosnian Muslims just three decades ago. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess’s story is one of perseverance and community, with specific emphasis on learning from the past and doing everything in our power to not repeat it. It is our greatest duty and responsibility to stick together and fight for those who do not have the power to fight for themselves.
Fighting against generations of corruption, greed, racism and hatred is a seemingly insurmountable task, but it is not an impossible task. As Tata said, “We always help people. Without question, without reward, we help. I don’t know where to start, but we have to start somewhere.”
Graphic: Xenophobia, War, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Racism, Gun violence, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, and Gore
whisper88's review against another edition
5.0
You'll still end up ugly crying, but it's worth every snotty tear drenched tissue.
I keep asking everyone older than me (I was born in the '90's) what they remember of the time and how the news reported (if it ever did) a literal genocide. Happily this brave family avoided the most extreme losses and torture. It's truly a survival story which may be some of the most important messages we can share. Death can be a relief, or at least a definitive resolution, where as surviving leaves so many questions unanswered. Learning how to sit with life as it is (or was) is an undertaking where any support from any source is always badly needed.
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Antisemitism, War, Gore, Rape, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, and Grief
scmiller's review
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Genocide, War, and Death
Moderate: Rape and Hate crime
booksngrannies's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Islamophobia, Racism, Grief, Death, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Rape
Minor: Torture
danajoy's review against another edition
5.0
I can't say I knew much about the atrocities that occured in Bosnia just a few years before I was born. It was never taught in my schools (possibly just mentioned in passing while we studied the Holocaust). It is deeply upsetting that I didn't know much at all about this, especially when it all occurred recently. Amra was 16 in 1992, when the Yugoslav Wars came to her home city of Bihać.
The brutal realities of war are blatant in this book. I wasn't expecting the risk of r*pe to be so blatantly addressed in the opening chapter in a "YA" book. War and l ethnic cleansing aren't shied away from.
It's very well written. Its a good starting point for education about the war and genocide. I found myself researching places and events every time I put the book down.
Read this book.
Graphic: Racism, Death, Islamophobia, Genocide, Grief, Violence, War, and Animal death
Moderate: Rape and Animal cruelty
Minor: Alcohol
bookwookie's review
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Violence, War, and Child death
Moderate: Rape
nitya's review
5.0
RTC when I stop sobbing
And I don't know why this is under the graphic novel shelf. For the record, this is a prose memoir! The only picture is of Amra and Maci (the cat), which also is a section/time divider.
Content warning: Islamophobia, war, violence, death (it's a theme), genocide, rape (not to the narrator/author but it is mentioned), animal death, sexual harassment, humans being terrible and cruel*
*Probably my inner nihilist talking but I will include it
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Animal death, Child death, Islamophobia, Death, Genocide, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Rape
Minor: Confinement