Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Love Is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar

3 reviews

amberinpieces's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Body shaming, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Deportation, Infidelity, War, Mass/school shootings, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Genocide, and Cancer

emoryscott's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

2.75

I really wanted to like this book. I love memoirs and the jacket summary was intriguing. However, this author’s style is not for me. If you enjoy quippy, erratic narration, you’ll love this. I felt like the journey across the country could have been more clearly defined. I felt like I never knew which era of her life she was speaking about. I know this is some people’s favorite type of writing, but it just wasn’t for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Child abuse, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Genocide, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Also, at times, it really seemed like the author was glorifying trauma and abuse. It was definitely a bit difficult to read as a survivor, but I can see how someone else may find this empowering.

fatimak's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

This was a book I was looking forward to reading as it is the memoir of a queer, Muslim, Arab-American woman. The author tells her story of growing up in an abusive household, recounts her experiences of being in abusive and toxic relationships, reflects on her identity as a Palestinian as well as being white passing, and more. Heavy topics including racism, Islamophobia, fatphobia, and domestic abuse are discussed throughout, and it's astounding just how much the author has gone through throughout her life and truly inspiring how she's found her way through it. I particularly admired how she talked so openly and unapologetically about her sexuality, as well as her critiques of fatphobia and her championing of fat acceptance. 

However, something about this book just didn't quite click with me (which feels weird to say as it's a memoir). I think perhaps the author's writing style just isn't for me. The way the book is structured and how we learn about different events and aspects of the author's life felt quite fragmented and all over the place. There were parts where I was confused about when in her life she was talking about and sometimes the use of letters in place of people's names got confusing (in particular, how she uses the letter L a lot to refer to different people). 

Overall, I admire the author's courage to write such a personal memoir as well as her strength in making it through such awful experiences and, from what it sounds like, finding a form of peace and acceptance at the end, but I didn't quite connect to the story. I think there'll be many people who find this memoir interesting and get something out of it, so I'd encourage you to give it a chance if you're thinking of reading it (particularly if you're of American-Egyptian and/or Palestinian heritage, as books with that kind of representation aren't very common, though not being of either background I can't speak to the quality of the representation).

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship