Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

86 reviews

nonfictionfeminist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Another excellent story from Rum. This one felt slow and heavy, and it felt as though Rum was forcing me to slow down, take my time, savor it, study it. I found myself rereading sentences, not because I didn't understand them, but because I needed to pause, picture them, take them in and sit with them for a minute. This may just be my favorite book of 2023.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

kleannejenkins's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Mental illness

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Misogyny, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

scmiller's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Grief, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Body shaming, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity

booksbeyondthebinary's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Genocide and Death of parent

silversparkles50's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent

serendipitysbooks's review

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

4.75

 Evil Eye is the story of Yara, a Palestinian- American woman, and her search for a more fulfilling life. Yara believes she should be happy. She’s married with two beautiful children and was able to earn a Masters degree and work at the local college, far more than she could ever hoped for during her very circumscribed childhood. But Yara wants more out of life, including travel and a closer relationship with her husband. Faced with a few personal crises she is eventually ready to reckon with her past and take action to work towards a more satisfying future for herself.

In this book Rum did a couple of things really well. One is the way she showcased intergenerational trauma, drawing clear links between the Nakba, the trauma based (and trauma causing) behaviours of Yara’s parents, and some of her own struggles. Another is the way she portrayed Yara’s emotions in a way that was so easy to empathise with that it hurt to read. I could feel her claustrophobia, her frustration at not being seen, her struggle to reconcile her dreams and aspirations with her family and cultural background, her guilt at not obeying, her pain at feeling that her emotions and aspirations were somehow wrong. At one point I actually needed to put the book aside to give my heart time to recover, and that is something I rarely do. For a time Yara made no progress, seemingly stuck in a cycle of unhappiness. While this was somewhat frustrating to read it also felt very accurate and true to life, an on the page representation of her life. Therapy was unable to make a difference until Yara was both willing to engage and able to find a therapist she felt comfortable with, but then it helped her make some big breakthroughs. I loved the friendship that developed between Silas (and his mother) and Yara. So refreshing to see a friendship between a male and female with no sexual overtones or other ulterior motives. It was also a good reminder of how a little kindness can make a big difference in someone’s life, and some of the joys to be found in cross-cultural friendships.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Genocide and Islamophobia

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-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

3.75

purposely frustrating but a great lesson and ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Racism

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Homophobia

estam1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Islamophobia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Racial slurs