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lebanesebookwrom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
It's definitely a good book to read. To see a childhood pov of the Lebanese civil war. I loved it.
geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
'I Remember Beirut' by Zeina Abirached is her memoir of growing up in Beirut during the Christian and Muslim war in the 1980s. The art is fantastic, but I kind of wanted something more.
Then again, she was just a child, so perhaps my expectations were a bit high. She talks about living in what the school thought was the neutral zone, so they had to be driven out of their neighborhood to a bus stop. Her brother collected shrapnel. There were blackouts and fuel shortages. Along the way, the family got to do normal family kinds of things. Life in a warzone isn't much fun and that's mostly the feeling you get here.
But the artwork is stunning, and really why anyone should read this. It's black and white with clean lines and beautiful patterns. I love young Zeina's wavy hair, and the map with fish where water should be. It's really great and I'd like to see more graphic work by this author.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lerner Publishing Group, Graphic Universe and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this beautiful graphic novel.
Then again, she was just a child, so perhaps my expectations were a bit high. She talks about living in what the school thought was the neutral zone, so they had to be driven out of their neighborhood to a bus stop. Her brother collected shrapnel. There were blackouts and fuel shortages. Along the way, the family got to do normal family kinds of things. Life in a warzone isn't much fun and that's mostly the feeling you get here.
But the artwork is stunning, and really why anyone should read this. It's black and white with clean lines and beautiful patterns. I love young Zeina's wavy hair, and the map with fish where water should be. It's really great and I'd like to see more graphic work by this author.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lerner Publishing Group, Graphic Universe and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this beautiful graphic novel.
tuuliventoo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.75
barefootmegz's review against another edition
5.0
I was in school when the war between Lebanon and Israel broke out. We had a history teacher who ensured that we knew day-by-day what was happening – and also taught us that Lebanon had been in a long civil war not many years before.
But it was still just a war in a different country that didn’t reeeeally affect us.
I Remember Beirut brings it home. Abirached's bold drawings makes this war feel real – and isn’t that why books are so wonderful? It takes us places we have never been. It fosters our empathy.
This is a different war story to any that I have read before. It really shows what it is like to grow up in times of warfare. The author remembers childlike things, like reading books with her mother and the old Kit Kat wrappers, but then it is superimposed by the kinds of memories not normal to childhoods, like a parent’s car riddled with bullet holes.
Little memories: her father’s depression. Her brother’s shrapnel collection. Going without necessities.
Big events: having to stay at school when it was too dangerous to return home. Their many evacuations. Her own PTSD.
And with every turn of the page the knowledge that something bad (or rather, worse) could be happening.
There are parts of this graphic novel that are so funny and so heart-warming. I loved seeing Abirached growing up. But the ending drives home the fact that war is eternally damaging. I would like to see UNICEF adopt this book, and I would like it to be required reading for anyone running for political office. And I would definitely like to see high school kids read this – it is quick and wonderful and I know that even non-readers will engulf it.
I received an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
But it was still just a war in a different country that didn’t reeeeally affect us.
I Remember Beirut brings it home. Abirached's bold drawings makes this war feel real – and isn’t that why books are so wonderful? It takes us places we have never been. It fosters our empathy.
This is a different war story to any that I have read before. It really shows what it is like to grow up in times of warfare. The author remembers childlike things, like reading books with her mother and the old Kit Kat wrappers, but then it is superimposed by the kinds of memories not normal to childhoods, like a parent’s car riddled with bullet holes.
Little memories: her father’s depression. Her brother’s shrapnel collection. Going without necessities.
Big events: having to stay at school when it was too dangerous to return home. Their many evacuations. Her own PTSD.
And with every turn of the page the knowledge that something bad (or rather, worse) could be happening.
There are parts of this graphic novel that are so funny and so heart-warming. I loved seeing Abirached growing up. But the ending drives home the fact that war is eternally damaging. I would like to see UNICEF adopt this book, and I would like it to be required reading for anyone running for political office. And I would definitely like to see high school kids read this – it is quick and wonderful and I know that even non-readers will engulf it.
I received an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
theaceofpages's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
2.5
I feel bad rating this so low because it is clearly a personal tale. And these kinds of stories definitely need to be shared. But it fell a bit flat to me. While I liked that the unique perspective (what a child remembers of a war) there was something about the tone that just didn't hit quite right for me although I know others won't have the same problem. It was maybe a bit simplified at times (and I'm not taking about the artwork). I think it could have benefitted from an introduction/afterward providing a little more detail, potentially with the author reflecting back upon the memories that were shared in the graphic novel. I think it's still worth a read but I think I was expecting something completely different before going in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Gun violence