Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Il libro dei desideri by Sue Monk Kidd

13 reviews

elisegmusic's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The Book of Longings imagines a world in which Jesus takes a wife, Ana, before starting his ministry. Ana is the daughter of a wealthy family, and she is taught to read and write, something uncommon for women in those days. She is entranced by stories and longs to have a voice for people to listen to. Instead, her parents engage her to a man twice her age. Ana falls in love with Jesus and, when her fiancé dies, she and Jesus get married, which lowers her station dramatically, but she gains a partner in life who believes in her dreams and encourages her.

If you are not familiar with the Bible, I think the political situation is a little confusing. I had to research what was going on in Palestine at that time - The Holy Roman Empire was controlling the land, and many Palestinians wished to be free, particularly for religious reasons, as they believed the land was promised to them by God, and they did not wish to be ruled by polytheists. 

Ana was such a beautiful character, and she will feel familiar to most women - in a world where women are being silenced, Ana longs for an equal voice in society and on the page. All the ideas in her world belong to men, and Ana is well ahead of her time and wishes to change that. She is the hope to the oppressed. 

Ana also has two powerful women by her side - Yaltha, her aunt, who teaches her everything she knows about spirituality, and Tabitha, her cousin whose tongue is cut out for speaking out against her rapist. 

There is no condemnation of Jesus or religion in this book - instead, it’s a reimagining of the lives of all the women left out of the Bible. In her afterword, Sue Monk Kidd says, “It could be argued that in the first-century Jewish world of Galilee, marriage was so utterly normative, it more or less went without saying.” Much of Jesus’s early years are not written about, so it is certainly possible that he got married ten years before his ministry. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

kwoot7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

As a Christian, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book*, which is probably why it’s taken me so long to get to.

However, I am SO glad I finally gave it a chance. I am far from a Bible scholar, which makes me excited to dive into it to see how closely the author’s stories that I recognize stay true to scripture. 

*I won’t deny it’s odd that I love to read thrillers, yet feel very uncomfortable when it comes to possible blasphemy. Don’t come for me. I know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Murder

saracatalyst's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I really loved this book! Kidd does a great job of creating a very human character for Jesus and writing a story that feels fresh and unburdened so close to perhaps the most well known story of all time. 

Having grown up attending a Methodist church, I was amazed and delighted with the way Kidd’s portrayal of events with which I’m perhaps *over* familiar felt new due to a realness the retellings have never possessed. 

Aside from the obvious and overarching tie to Christianity, the story bears merit on its own. Kidd’s extensive research shines through as a solid foundation for the story she creates. The themes of women’s roles in society, religion, culture, and the home carry enough weight that Jesus’s relevance in the story doesn’t completely overwhelm every other aspect. I loved Ana, her many companions, and the unique relationships she had with each of them. 

This book is great so criticism feels weird. But at the same time… some of the characters felt a little too convenient to feel totally real. Ana felt like a pretty clear distillation of the author’s view of herself. The complexity for Jesus’s character at times felt like answering what’s your greatest weakness with “I care too much and work too hard.” I felt myself wanting more at times, like the plot was being rushed along through dialogue but I understand that the point was to keep things from Ana’s perspective and she couldn’t be present for every relevant event in the story. The last thing I felt like I wanted was a more three dimensional representation of the society. It felt like as soon as we zoomed out any amount from intimate family interactions, society was just a villain and a bad place to be. Perhaps this is just the way things were, but seems more likely there might have been moments of happiness and beauty that the people would be able to find. 

If you’ve read this book and have thoughts, please talk to me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Classism

bethaniemae23's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I did thoroughly enjoy this book, learning about a whole different culture and how cruel it can be to women, or anyone that dares to be a little different. I loved Jesus and Ana relationship but don’t think I would have been as forgiving as Ana when he left.  The place where people can go to live out a peaceful life sounded like pure bliss and I wish it was real.
Little thunder 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Torture, and Murder

danicakvcs's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Suicide, and Torture

maddiebusick's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Slavery, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Deportation

jrosegross's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

kcarney86's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Torture, and Grief

Moderate: Blood and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is basically the telling of Jesus’ life through the eyes of his wife. She explains her absence from the biblical stories and he’s written in a way that he’s just a normal man, not a deity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lokilledrome's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism