Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Habibi by Craig Thompson

32 reviews

suprconman99's review

challenging dark 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

Habibi is a visual and technical marvel, with a narrative that alternates between sheer brutality and tender-heartedness. An unconventional love story (as the central characters’ relationship morphs over time from adoptive mother-child to siblings to, eventually, partners) told through the prism of sexual and religious trauma and environmental injustice. The only reason I rate it a soft 4 and not higher is due to the at times problematic presentation of Middle Eastern/Islamic culture by the white male American author. While often consciously satirical and exaggerated for effect, the lines blur on more than one occasion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

huichola's review

reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Rape

fools_egg's review

Agree with most reviews: I read when I was young and just discovered Craig Thompson.
Definitely a white dude just exploiting racist stereotypes and tropes to create a traumatizing read. 
Write what you know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Pedophilia, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Cultural appropriation

the_naptime_reader's review

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Rape

audrey88's review

dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Rape

Moderate: Racism

avvai's review

challenging 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Rape

itzsupergirl's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual violence, Racism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Fatphobia

carleesi's review

Opening with the rape of a child (who was hyper sexualised in the way she was drawn) made me so uncomfortable that I came to check other reviews and found that rape and mistreatment of women is a common theme in this book so I just don’t need to keep reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

littlecake's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

1.0

Eventhough Habibi has beautifull art and is filled with lots of research on Muslim myths and Arabic language, the author's orientalist gaze made me deeply uncomfortable. I almost DNF this book so many times but out of curiosity and to criticise it adequately, I finished it.

So many things are wrong with this graphic novel so let me list a few :

• The orientalist interpretation on the main female character Dodola : she is constantly reduice to her sexuality. In the book, she goes through sexual exploitation and yet, the rape scenes are graphically deepicted again and again. Even during these scenes, her body is showed in an esthethic way, which is highly disturbing... In these pages, the panels with Dodola naked are more numerous then her with clothes... Even as a child she is shown using her sensuality. Westerners still exotise Muslim and/or arabic women and have a fantasy to unveil them (read Fanon or Said's work on that). This representation is highly rooted in sexism, orientalism and colonialism.
• The relationship between the main characters is disturbing and toxic on many levels. From Dodola being Zam's maternal figure to then being the object of his lust.. I mean it's such a creepy fondation for any love story...
• The story takes place in a fictional land called Wanatolia. This country is a mix of all brown people together. It has arabic language like Maghreb, a Sultan like Ottoman Empire, Hijras and salwar kameez like India, Slavery and so on. Again this emphasizes Thompson's Orientalist gaze : all this countries with so many different cultures, languages and interpretations of Islam are just crushed together in one joyous mix. Ultimately all brown people are the same.
• There is no positive representation of a male arabic/brown character. All of them are just lusty barbaric people, which reinforces stereotypes. Furthermore, these characters are caricatured (big or pointy noses, long beards, etc). 
• Eventhough the myths are nicely drawn, some interpretations or representations made me uncomfortable. I understand that Thompson is not a believer, but when you pretend to be fascinated by someone's culture then you should respect it while representating it. Showing prophets face or showing them lusting is honestly disrespectful to so many faiths. 

Honestly I could go on and on and pin point specific scenes or problems. But in the end, my conclusion would be the same : this is a book filled with white gaze, orientalist  stereotypes and sexism. It's yet another example that own voices books matter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, War, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

prunesquallor's review

dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Slavery, and Child abuse

Moderate: Incest

interesting failure, misguided, beautiful art