Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Salt Houses

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

taratearex's review

emotional reflective sad 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? No

5.0

This was so good. A multi-generational family saga about a family forced out of their home in Palestine, multiple times, and then following their life throughout the diaspora and many more wars. The book starts in 1963, but flashes back to 1948, and ends in the 2000's. We experience multiple POV's in the family throughout the years. I usually struggle with this kind of structure- multi POV's and changing timeline, but this timeline is linear and each family member is so distinct that I didn't get too mixed up in the POVs (I did have to check the family tree in the front of the book a few times and got a little mixed up once we got to the grandchildren but was able to get my bearings quickly). The political events and wars are not thoroughly talked about, they sometimes are in the background and the focus is on the family and their reactions, so I can see how maybe if you didn't know the events/wars this might be a bit difficult, but you could quick google to orient yourself if needed. But I appreciated this focus and how reactions and experiences shifted depending on the POV.

This book shows generational trauma, living throughout the diaspora, living through multiple wars, how loss changes us and affects us. And it really shows how loss of home, losing your homeland, completely and utterly changes you and your entire life and that reverberates throughout years and generations. The loss of memories and knowledge was haunting throughout. Really beautifully done. I cried a lot. I stayed up too late to finish this because I couldn't put it down.

The audiobook is great, I listened while sometimes following along with the physical as that helps me with multi POVs and changing timelines, it was helpful to be able to reference the family tree in the front of the book.

Content Warnings

annamay1021's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

dragongirl271's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

A perfect book. Beautifully interwoven family story spanning about 50 years. I can’t find the words for how much I loved this. Read it immediately.

Content Warnings

perfectplaces's review

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emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

“I wake up and it feels like my lungs are dropped in ice and I have to count, one two three four, listen to myself taking in air. Sometimes I wonder if this is really the waking world: coffee in a red mug, three children sleeping in three rooms, the television blaring in the background.”

-

hala alyan gets it. like i simply cannot stress enough how much she gets it.

this reminds me of khaled hosseini’s and the mountains echoed which is a book i love for its form if not for its content. except salt houses has much more heart and nuance to its portrayal of war and conflict and cyclical trauma and identity and exile than any of hosseini’s books. like mountains, a lot of the reviews for this book complain about its style of incorporating short vignettes from different povs that make up a multi generational story. but like. i like that. i think it’s fun and good and i just love the yacoub family so much (atefTT_TT) and i started to see myself and the people i know in all of them. so i don’t rly agree with any of the reviews saying we didn’t have time to get to know the characters like yes. we did. the girls that get it get it.

anyway this is a new favorite and i think i will recommend forever.

Content Warnings