Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

23 reviews

kalmia31's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abortion, Classism, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Child death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Violence

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

this absolutely wrecked me. i cried in public reading this. 

it was so enlightening on the tribulations many Iranian people faced during that time. i felt my heart break when the characters faced grief and loss.

i would recommend this 1000%, please just check trigger warnings!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Child death, Colonisation, Infertility, Medical content, Death, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Blood, Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Vomit, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, Child death, Abortion, Death, Classism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, and Infertility

Minor: War, Dementia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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

A couple months back, I found The Stationery Shop on the shelves of my local used bookstore. The cover was so stunningly beautiful that I picked it up without really knowing what it was about. Lucky for me, it is mostly a historical fiction set in Iran with some romance mixed in. The book follows Roya and Bahman as they witness political protests, attempted coups, and eventually fall in love with each other. 

First of all, I really loved the way the author brought Iran to life. The setting is almost a character of its own as it is so present and involved in the plotline. I could fully imagine the stationery shop, the markets, and everything in between. It reminded me a lot of some of my own travels in the Middle East and I absolutely loved that sense of nostalgia from the reading. 

Additionally, I loved Roya as a main character. She is clever, opinionated, and knows what she wants. She is a good daughter to her family and a loyal partner to Bahman when they fall in love. I felt a rapport with her immediately and continued to feel it throughout. 

I also enjoyed the way the story was split between past and present. Sometimes when there is a split timeline in stories, one timeline is stronger than the other. That is not the case here. I loved both timelines and love the way the two timelines eventually come together. 

My only real critique of the book is that the main source of conflict could've been so easily resolved. I won't give details here as I don't want to spoil the book, but suffice it to say, that you can't think about the conflict too deeply or it creates a bit of a hole in the story. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it without reservation to anyone who likes historical fiction and romance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Violence

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Classism, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Self harm, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion

wellreadjill_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, War, Child death, Classism, and Mental illness

allyordyna's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-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? Yes

4.25

Wow. My mind is reeling and my heart is burning. What a ride. 16+ Read TW

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Grief, Police brutality, Death, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Self harm, Emotional abuse, War, Sexual content, Miscarriage, and Cancer

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was an amazing read. I really loved how the relationship is developed in part one and then parts two - four is about taking the reader on a journey through the aftermath and seeing how their lives went on and how it all came to be.

I found myself confronted with so many emotions reading this, which has now left me in an emotionally confused state as I keep processing this book and everything in it. It does not shy away from making very complicated characters, that you despise for their actions, but sympathetic because of their circumstance, but then frustrated as those circumstances are not an excuse for their actions, and so the cycle continues whilst reading. It leaves you in a strange but also real situation where not everything is black and white.

The plot at the beginning had me interested but not hooked. I enjoyed it for the most part, but when I stopped reading at part 3 during my first sitting of this book, I could have left it as I didn't have me hooked (granted I was also in a bit of a slump so that contributed to this feeling as well). Part 3 was much of the same from part 2 but had some really heart breaking and warming moments that felt so real., but part 4 is where this book shines in my opinion. This part hit me like a train. I was all over the place and the epilogue had me stunned and tore my heart from my chest with the emotions that I felt and everything that lead to that moment.

I highly recommend this book , but also encourage to look up the trigger and content warnings as there is some heavy and triggering moments in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abortion, Violence, and Child death

marissasa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

I never thought I would cry listening to an audiobook but boy did this one prove me wrong. The Stationery Shop was full of love and culture and humanity and sadness, so much so that it felt like the characters were real people and this was a true retelling of their lives rather than a historical fiction. The descriptive setting of a politically-charged Tehran, all the side characters full of personality, the themes of the pursuit of knowledge and truth through literature and social justice, and the mouthwatering descriptions of traditional Iranian food brought this story to life and helped to make it memorable to me as more than just a star-crossed lovers plot. Although it was slow in the start and I didn't immediately connect with Roya and Bahman's relationship because of how fast it happened, my mind changed by the end once I had seen all the angst, pain, yearning, heartbreak, and acceptance that they had to go through to get to the point when they would finally meet again 60 years later. With each detail of how Bahman's memory of Roya lived on in his heart and mind every single day, my own heart hurt. From the stationery shop he established in the US modeled after the place they first met, to his favorite poem from Rumi that he shared with Roya and exchanged letters through which his children then read at his funeral, I was tearing up. Just when I thought this sweet and sad story couldn't tear my heart out anymore, the epilogue started and the tears were just flowing. This book was a truly emotional one full of the losses, joys, and complexities of life that make up the human experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Classism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abortion

ellenwilberg's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Classism, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Child death, Terminal illness, Murder, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury