Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, عدنية شبلي

49 reviews

rebeccadiv's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

There's no way I can rate this. Read content warnings before pick this up.
Free Palestine 🇵🇸

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Gore, Rape, Animal cruelty, Violence, Colonisation, Genocide, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War

onthesamepage's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

It astonishes me how Shibli manages to paint such a complete picture of life under colonization in such a short book. The prose isn't flowery at all but very straightforward, and yet it packs a punch. The book is split into two parts—the first part deals with a group of Israeli soldiers as they patrol a segment of the desert, and capture (and rape) a young Palestinian woman. The second part follows another Palestinian woman, many years after the rape, who reads about this incident and becomes obsessed with retracing it. Both parts hit hard for different reasons, but I found myself especially affected by the latter one. The character read as neurodivergent to me, and following her in her daily life, with all the restrictions and fears and anxieties imposed upon her by the colonial state, was heartbreaking.

I truly can't recommend this enough, but do check out the content warnings before starting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Genocide, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Rape

robinks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Phew, this little novel packs a punch. Adania does a masterful job of narrating from the perspectives of two very different characters. What happened and continues to happen in Palestine is horrific. #FreePalestine

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Vomit, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

goodthingsread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Excellent writing, harsh and brutal. I found the first half to be a bit too "literary." The soldier has an infection; he is sick physically and morally, yes. I also found the ending, while impactful, a little off. I can't think of any other result, but the small detail that gets us there feels silly in context.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Murder, Islamophobia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal cruelty

thetenaciousbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Colonisation, Death, Animal cruelty, and Murder

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual violence, Death, Racism, Murder, Colonisation, and Genocide

Moderate: Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty and Excrement

crybabybea's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully done. The author took a very interesting approach by splitting the book exactly down the middle and having the second part parallel the first in a very clever way. For this I also have to give props to the translator, who I think did a wonderful job translating the author's intentions!

It's a quick read with a powerful ending that leaves you staring at the wall to process. I think this would be a great book to study in class as it makes some very smart writing choices that help bolster the overall theme. You could definitely reread this multiple times and find something new to annotate.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Islamophobia, War, and Rape

sophiegrubben's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

there’s no other words to describe this book than dread-filled. it was a difficult but incredibly necessary book to read and adania shibli immerses you a whole expansive world in just 112 pages and leaves you gasping for air at how restrictive it feels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Colonisation, and Death

valje's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Physical abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty

kjofalltrades's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, War, Animal cruelty, and Rape