Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

27 reviews

okayletsread's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

Essentially, this was a book about self-sabotage in the form of love addiction through the lens of a queer Palestinian American woman. I liked the flashbacks to the main character's childhood and its connection with her current behaviors, but it focused too much on a long string of love interests and unhealthy, toxic relationships that contributed to her addiction. And the style felt rushed and reminiscent of stream-of-consciousness journal entries from our teenage years. There's not enough in the book that worked for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Addiction, Eating disorder, and Toxic friendship

windermerepeak1's review

dark 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

3.5

The intersectionality between race, sexuality, and religion is done so well here and that makes it good enough of a read to recommend

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Islamophobia, and Racism

hellichipmunk's review

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

pallasreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

3.75

This is a really dynamic exploration of identity, abusive parenting, and recovery that fell apart a bit in the last 30 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Biphobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Islamophobia, and Addiction

Minor: Death

dangselena's review

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

The timeline jumped around so much with little context so it was a bit hard to read. Side characters weren’t fleshed out enough to feel meaningful. The MC isn’t like able, which is fine, but there wasn’t much of a plot besides her being horrible to other people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Biphobia, Islamophobia, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Alcohol, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Drug use

jartone93's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Colonisation, Violence, Death, Biphobia, Eating disorder, Islamophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content

noahsingh's review

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Interesting but couldn't hack the sheer amount of annoying men the main character was attached/attracted to.
The main interesting aspects to me (Palestinian heritage + relationship with their mother + the instances of Islamophobia/ acism & Zionism she faces) had very little space in the book.

Also I do think her outing that woman was unforgivable and I Hate Hate Hated that that (trigger warning) literal rapist white guy at The Lodge is, if anything, forgiven/absolved by the narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, War, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, Colonisation, Confinement, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Racism, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, Outing, Pedophilia, Addiction, Self harm, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Rape

errie's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Sexual content, Alcohol, Drug use, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Biphobia

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. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Eating disorder, Biphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Outing

gabyhat's review

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Gaslighting, and Alcohol