Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

29 reviews

cici_os's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Murder

pomoevareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

What a stunning piece of art!

Divided into two parts, Minor Details begins with an Israeli soldier, who along with his platoon, are charged with guarding the Negev desert along its Egyptian border. The time is August 1949 a year after Nakba when Palestinians were displaced by the creation of Israel. The soldier has suffered a spider bite which festers and the reader is given intimate access with the progression of the effects from the bite. During one of the reconnaissance missions, a group of bedouins, along with their camels and a dog are spotted. All but the dog and a young girl who was travelling with them are killed. The girl is brought back to camp where she is raped, then killed and buried. In the second part of the book, the narration moves from third to first person and we are travelling with a Palestinian woman who seeks to learn more about the young girl of many years ago. She risks her life in borrowing documents and travelling out of her zone. The only connecting details between the two are the date of the murder which is the exact date 25 years earlier of the woman’s birth. 

The writing is phenomenal and fluid and the motifs bring the two sections together beautifully. The article in the newspaper that the woman reads about the girl is considered a minor detail in the sense of its newsworthiness at the time. The reader is gracefully reminded to consider all the minor details in order for the full image to develop. The title of this book could not be more perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Murder, Rape, Confinement, and Sexual assault

alyssamakesart's review

challenging dark informative reflective 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? Yes

4.5

The biggest threat to Israel's story in this book is not the two horrific moments of violence in this novel. Those can lazily be denied as unrealistic and moments unsure to the fog of war. However, the trek to each moment is a series of acts of violence of themselves. Racism and physical occupation being the main two. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Confinement, Racism, Islamophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gun violence

Minor: Cultural appropriation and War

ruthhelizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, Racism, Body shaming, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Colonisation, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

annamay1021's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Body horror, Rape, Islamophobia, Genocide, Police brutality, Confinement, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

amschelly153's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense 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? No

5.0

Devastating. Enlightening. Courageous. Shocking. Real and horrible and I don’t believe I’ll be the same after this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Physical abuse, Gun violence, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, Violence, and Rape

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

There’s an old saying I’ve heard about tragedies, don’t show the faces of many tell the story of one. I think this book does such a great job of that. Giving us a main character, whose pretty quirky, and showing how hard her life is as a Palestinian. Making the apartheid Palestinians experience so visceral and personal. My one criticism is the beginning half through the soldier’s POV. I didn’t like the writing as much as the rest of the book. Although I get why it was told (for context), the rest of the story was far more compelling. 

“Sometimes it’s inevitable for the past to be forgotten, especially if the present is no less horrific.”

“The truth of it will never stop chasing me.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Religious bigotry, Blood, Racism, Confinement, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, and War

moonchildjuli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: War

shikha20's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Islamophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence