Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Evil Eye

to quote a goodreads review i saw “FUCK YEAH LEAVE HIS ASS GIRL!” i literally cheered at my desk, i was so proud of yara standing up for herself and learning to love herself.

Content Warnings

lifewithjoce's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

Content Warnings

brewdy_reader's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.5

𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘍𝘪𝘤 • 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 • ⁣𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 • 𝘎𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤

"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳."

Evil Eye is LitFic at its finest: it feels so real that it could be true, it could be someone's memoir, maybe someone close to you, maybe even yours, or mine. Every child of immigrants, every mother, every woman, anyone in any marginalized group, can find something relatable within these pages. Addressing Palestinian history, generational trauma, gender expectations and inequities, mental health and stigmas, shame and grief and guilt, Arab stereotypes, and lots of other tough topics, this is also a story of empowerment and how to heal.

Then there is the mouth-watering food. In fact, the only thing that Yara's husband Fadi and I see eye-to-eye on is her cooking: a gastronomic explosion of flavors. You will smell the aroma and taste the spices as you read. In fact I'm hungry now.

And Silas. 🥹

There is also art and creating and Frida Kahlo. There's instagram versus reality and what it means to live an authentic life. There's the isolation of not fitting the mold, not fitting in. How to live a life true to yourself and not what someone else wants for you. How to see that you don't need to be fixed because you're not broken.

Content Warnings

mmccombs's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

Character-driven and deeply emotionally grounded, Evil Eye was a compelling narrative about motherhood, intergenerational trauma, and the expectations placed on Palestinian women. I enjoyed the journal entries which created strong connections to Yara’s family and roots in Palestine. However, I did find this book to be quite repetitive and simplistic, the writing did not spark anything in me (Yara’s hands shook and blood rushed in her ears in almost every chapter) and the dialogue was very wooden (somehow every character sounded like a therapist, it was kind of strange). Something kept me from fully connecting with Yara and this story, maybe something with the organization left me feeling emotionally distant from the true weight of Yara’s past. I do think I’d recommend this book especially if you love character-driven stories about women finding themselves and their voices, but I think I expected a bit more.

Content Warnings

drraytay's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

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