Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Home Is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo

21 reviews

nonbinarylibrarianwitch's review

emotional mysterious 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: Death of parent, Bullying, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, and Racism

Minor: Racial slurs, Car accident, and Infidelity

divaninoor's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The most beautiful and heartbreaking description of what it feels like to want to be someone else because you and your parent live in two different worlds <3 because of the somewhat-slow pace of the book, I did wonder where it was going when I first started reading it. By the end, I could only sit and wonder about how many drafts, how much external development, and how many nights it took to write this. Safia Elhillo described the feelings of diaspora children all too well- I think this book is especially realistic and relatable for children of immigrants who had to spend all their time working, rather than being able to spend time with their families or relax, when they got here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Rape

amandalorianxo's review

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

5.0

Wow. It’s moments like these where I don’t know if what I will write will be enough to convince people that this a book worth reading. For those us who are fans of Elizabeth Acevedo’s work, @safiamafia writing is similar but holds her own as we get to know Nima & her family. Roughly 211 pages of emotion, what if’s and a mere inkling about what happens when a teenager wants to know so much but is unable to seek out answers in a way others easily can. Nima is the child of Aisha, a single mom who is not ashamed of where she comes from nor the Arabic language in which she speaks. I saw a lot of Nima in myself - despite the fact that she’s fourteen - we both struggled in speaking the language our mothers want us to be fluent in and the accompanying jeers / racial tension from the American born kids. There’s a little bit of a supernatural spin to this story that I don’t want to give away but I highly recommend picking this up the next time you are at the library or at your local bookstore. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Death of parent, and Bullying

Minor: Car accident, Torture, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

reviewsandreadathons's review

dark hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Racism

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Infidelity and Adult/minor relationship

courtneyfalling's review

emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I wasn't sure how the highly introspective novel-in-verse form was going to work for me at first, especially since Nima starts as such a passive character. But I quickly became engrossed in how she understands the larger world around her and her loved ones, and the second half of the novel really picks up in how it uses this "alternate self" character and Nima's nostalgia for her parents' country. Lots of moments where I teared up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Death of parent, Hate crime, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Car accident and Infidelity

readalongwithnat's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

4.0

This was beautiful on audio. I was hooked from the beginning and didn't want it to end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent

kayleyhyde's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, Hate crime, and Violence

Minor: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Gun violence

_goldenbooks's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Islamophobia

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Death of parent and Infidelity

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

emotional 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

I went into this not knowing much about it, and just wow. Apparently I'm in a novel in verse kick, and I would highly recommend the audiobook (again). The author reads it, and it's done so well. The story here is heart-achingly beautiful, about a girl who doesn't really know where she fits in when suddenly, she's not close with her best friend Haitham.

Elhillo explores what could have been by going into the past. Nima's afraid she's disappearing, but maybe she just needs to confront what got her to where she is. There are gorgeous lines in this book, and you're sucked in right from the beginning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, and Medical content

sartastic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Islamophobia, Death, Death of parent, and Hate crime

Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Medical content, and Racial slurs