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archiveofrasa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
no matter how unlikable this (unnamed) main character is, she feels so real on the page. she's contradictory, absolutely messy in the sense that if she was gen Z I know her peers would shun her online, and she's in so much unacknowledged pain. she unravels this pain slowly, empathetically that when she starts admitting it bit by bit, I felt this satisfaction growing, even though she continues to be flawed.
going into this book, I expected to see more vignettes with her mother, but on my annotating reread, I realised her mother was indeed there, just in between the lines. that's ultimately what this book is about: the main character's relationship with her mother and how that's impacted her throughout the questionable choices she makes. the connections this has to her Palestinian roots, diaspora experiences, her sexuality and generally just lack of community, they were so interesting and heartbreaking. reading Arafat's interviews about this book definitely confirmed my thoughts on quite a few aspects of the novel and while there is a lot of subtlety I feel like went over my head, I really enjoyed it!
Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, and Addiction
D-slur is used once.fkshg8465's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Drug use, Homophobia, Addiction, Biphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual content
windermerepeak1's review
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Islamophobia, and Racism
coffeenoldbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I first want to say that I really enjoyed this book and wasn’t what I was expecting. This book has a flawed protagonist who discusses their journey of being a bisexual Palestinian American who suffers from addiction and anorexia. She goes through her self destructive habits and trying to better herself even after sabotaging her relationships one after the other. She discovers a lot of her root cause is a very emotionally unavailable mother whom she craved love and affection from.
The bulk of the story is told while she is in rehab with flashbacks on where things went wrong for her and the decisions she made that she seemed to regret. She talks about her mother’s past and her childhood where she grew up in an occupied state and married young and gave up a lot of her dreams to only end up emotionally detached and regretting many things. We see how the protagonist understands this but does not pardon her mother for not being there and providing the love and affection she needed herself.
Other points of note in the book are talks of her feeling othered in many ways. Never feeling like she has a place to fit in. She is a Palestinian American and doesn’t fully feel like she fits in the American world but also not an Arabic world either. She feels like she has no place she truly belongs and it makes her longing for love an affection much deeper; craving some sense of belonging.
The one thing I do truly wish there was more talk about is the last relationship she has with Anouk. I’d love to know more of how they were able to come to trust eachother and find the love she was craving.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it. I’d say to check some trigger warnings beforehand.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Sexual content, War, Biphobia, Homophobia, and Colonisation
hellichipmunk's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Biphobia, Addiction, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexism, Body shaming, Homophobia, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Grief, Islamophobia, and Lesbophobia
saraellenme's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Infidelity, Biphobia, Addiction, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Eating disorder, Alcohol, Xenophobia, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Outing, War, and Toxic relationship
nikia4's review
- 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
Graphic: Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Moderate: Eating disorder, Biphobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Physical abuse, War, and Suicidal thoughts
katharina90's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
The trauma at the root of her harmful choices isn't explored in a way that works for me, and without seeing much of a change in behavior I found it difficult to care.
Graphic: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Addiction
Minor: Colonisation and Drug abuse
bkschwartz's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Addiction and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Sexual content, Infidelity, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting
kvokolek's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
Graphic: Biphobia, Infidelity, and Addiction
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Suicide
Minor: Drug abuse and Rape