Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Internment by Samira Ahmed

19 reviews

whitedaylilies's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racism, Islamophobia, Torture, Death, and Gaslighting

rmorrolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Police brutality, Racism, Antisemitism, Violence, Slavery, Gun violence, Grief, Bullying, Islamophobia, Deportation, Confinement, War, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, and Hate crime

cbeghuin's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Islamophobia, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Deportation

bekah_belle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-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? No

2.75

Such an important book and an important topic. However, the execution was flawed and didn’t always work for me. Disappointing as I was so hopeful for the powerful potential of a YA novel taking on fascism and racism in America. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia

Minor: Blood, Cursing, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Confinement, Death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Kidnapping

unabashedlynat's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Hate crime, Confinement, Islamophobia, Deportation, Murder, and Death

quinnpjd930's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Violence, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Police brutality, Confinement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexism, and Hate crime

bookcaptivated's review

emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Death, Islamophobia, Child abuse, Violence, Torture, Blood, Xenophobia, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Hate crime, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, War, and Deportation

krys_kilz's review

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

I didn't like this book at all. I really liked Ahmed's other novel, Hollow Fires, so I was disappointed that Internment didn’t measure up. The writing in this novel felt less focused and was heavy handed with an excessive use of metaphor. It really brought the book down for me because it took me out of the story and flattened the characters. 

The politics in this book also felt really jumbled. The author critiqued liberals and yet the politics held by the characters and those resisting were essentially liberal. Very the system is broken rather than the system was structured to function this way.

It was full of tropes, an unnecessary love triangle, lots of filler, very little exploration of the conditions that led to the internment camp, everything being resolved way too easily and theatrically, and an unrealistically neatly wrapped up ending. The love triangle especially is so fucked up (hello age gap, weird white savior vibes, extreme power dynamics/imbalances).

It feels like a disservice to young adult readers because the concept behind this story was very strong and important. I wish it hadn't been so watered down and buried beneath all that fluff.  

Please be mindful of the content warnings before reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Confinement, Islamophobia, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Antisemitism and Blood

cerilouisereads's review

challenging emotional 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: Confinement, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence