Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - You Exist Too Much

Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

29 reviews

yasidiaz's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Our unnamed narrator is a young Palestinian-American woman who struggles with a love addiction, as well as a complicated relationship with her mother, and the intersection of her identities. Through a series of vignettes, we see what led her to this point and her tumultuous journey to recovery.

This was a challenging book, the narrator is way too far from perfect, but you want her to get better. Reading through her trauma and the mistakes she makes along the way is difficult to go through. It’s very different from my usual reads. It’s serious, complicated, sad, a far cry from my fluffy preferences.

It’s beautifully written and hard to stop reading. However, it’s not a book I find myself re-reading any time soon. It’s not a book I will be grabbing and thinking about constantly. And that’s fine. I’m not the type to usually reach for literary and serious books, it doesn’t make it any less of a good book. I am glad to have read this book, it’s a very reflective and stunning book.

And in a time where Palestinians are being dehumanized, genocided, and silenced, it makes this book even more necessary. We need to read more from Palestinians, support them, make them known, and make them heard.

Content Warnings

gabyhat's review against another edition

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hopeful informative slow-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

scribblinginthemargins's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-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? Yes

5.0

A dark yet occassionally comic narrative about a young woman seeking treatment for the psychological impact of her mother's narcissistic abuse. Compelling, self-destructive and uncomfortably intimate.

Content Warnings