Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

21 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

1.5

I had high expectations of this book. I wish I hadn’t, because then maybe I would’ve liked this book moss than I did. Terrible characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Drug use, Homophobia, Addiction, Biphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual content

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

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

• 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

An interesting portrait of a very messy, complicated main character. The unnamed protagonist is dealing with family issues, immigrant trauma, addiction, and internalized homophobia/biphobia. She forms unhealthy relationships. She tries to be better. The cycle repeats over and over. If you want a very messy bisexual book by a Palestinian author, this definitely fits the bill. It did get too repetitive for me at times, and I wanted more from certain aspects, but I would still recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, and Addiction

bkschwartz's review

challenging emotional funny 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

3.0

Bookclub read, probably not one I would have chosen. It was very well written though. The story pops between present day and memories constantly. The lead is messy, a complex woman who self sabotages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Sexual content, Infidelity, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

savvylit's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a novel about healing. Healing from generational trauma. From abuse. From love addiction. From disordered eating. From toxic relationships. The unnamed protagonist of You Exist Too Much is a realistically complicated and messy person. Throughout this novel, she consistently makes mistakes as she tries to sort out who she is and what she wants - all while fighting deep-seated childhood trauma.

You Exist Too Much is a character-driven coming-of-age story with a whole lot of heart. The biggest strength of this book is its portrayal of the difficulties in overcoming harmful patterns. Healing oneself doesn't happen immediately. Rather, it's a slow and effortful process for our protagonist (and for many of us in real life).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Biphobia

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

sydnec's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Sexism

bashsbooks's review

emotional funny reflective 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

Enjoyed this book well enough. It was a nice exploration of the difference between love and obsession, the dysfunction between mother and daughter strewn across cultures, and those cultures that the daughter feels stretched between. 

I found the characters to be complex and well-fleshed, suited for the concepts they were exploring. I thought that who got names and who didn't was compelling and thought-provoking detail. 

That said, I think that it was somewhat lacking in balance in the scenes in which it spent lots of time with versus the times and places it skipped through. And I felt like the thread of the Ledge and the mental health aspect fell out of the plot a bit awkwardly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Biphobia, Sexual content, Racism, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

courtneyfalling's review

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

This was such a weird book. I still have such mixed feelings. Very in the "sad girl" genre a la Ottessa Moshfegh. The main character is a TRIP but I feel like the subtle throughline of how the trauma of Palestinian diaspora amidst ongoing genocide intersects with her personal family experiences and childhood trauma as well as her relationship decision-making was well-crafted. My main issues are plot-related. The center is a strange interlude and her "love addiction" was written justtttt enough where I wasn't sure how critical the book wanted to be of the center. Lots of ambiguous space and reactions. Also

I feel like having a main character with difficulties forming overly intense emotional relationships too quickly, then busting apart, is not solved by her suddenly getting into a good intense emotional relationship, without entirely clarifying what separates her capacity to suppress her self-destructive interiority and truly commit to handling interpersonal conflict this time... especially in the context of ongoing genocide and diaspora

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Lesbophobia

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