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bookishbrenbren's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Lovely! The art was particularly enjoyable I feel like the author captured the essence of each character's environment and still had room for whimsy. The stories were sad but honestly not toooo sad, I thought they were enjoyable! Each one deals with a major aspect of Egyptian life (?) that makes life harder. The first one I didn't really understand the wish but I feel like the story was a commentary on the ways the rights of poor people, especially women, are attacked. The second one was a great exploration of mental illness and the ways society approaches/sees it. The third threw me for a LOOP but also commented on VAWG and DV in general. That one was great. I also really liked the Shokry character who appears in all three and his devotion to both his father's wishes and his religion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Police brutality, Child abuse, Death, Transphobia, Chronic illness, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Child death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Colonisation, Child abuse, Classism, Animal cruelty, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Medical content, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail
emily_mh's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
This graphic novel was simply stunning. I will go into detail in my review of each of the three stories, but just know it is rich in character, world-building, and plot. The three stories are linked together to make the overall novel cohesive. The art style was just wonderful, being really bold and eye-catching. I loved the way Mohamed drew people, particularly how she showed family resemblance and aging. I’m not usually a fan of black-and-white colour palettes, as this novel mostly employs, but here it really worked.
Aziza: I liked how this story was told in a mix of present-day and flashbacks. It served to give a lot of depth to Aziza and her relationship with Abdo, explaining her actions in the present. What really struck me about this story in particular was how it explored a real-world issue through a fantastical concept. As a result of procuring a first-class wish, Aziza finds herself facing police corruption and false imprisonment. Because of her class and the lack of resources and legislative knowledge this entails, the police and justice system take advantage of her, leaving her with little power over her future. Take out the wish aspect of this tale and you having something that happens in the real-world, too. This is a testament to Mohamed’s impeccable world-building: everything about this fantastical Earth seems EXACTLY like what the real world would look like if wishes were involved.
Nour: oof, this one. The depiction of depression here was utterly fantastic, as was the depiction of the ableist attitudes that can make seeking and finding help difficult. Nour was an intensely relatable character for me, in their black-and-white thinking and unrelenting standards for themself. I think this story also touched on how queerness impacts mental health (as I think Nour was nonbinary based on their pronouns), or if not, how differing gender presentation does so when you live in a binary society. What I found particularly fascinating was the introduction of the ethics of wish-making, the story revealing that wishes are sentient beings corralled into use. On another serious note, the story shows that people have been using wishes to wish their, or their child’s, disability away. I’m not really sure where I stand on how the issue was represented in this story - I think parents wishing away their child’s disability without consent should at least have been condemned; then again, perhaps the child character in question’s facial expression when talking about this topic was supposed to convey condemnation. On the other hand, individuals wishing away their own disability is complex and nuanced, so I wasn’t looking for the author to “take a stance” on this particular matter as it’s not really possible to generalise the issue to that point. In any case, I think Nour’s particular situation was handled well. As a side note, it was cool seeing how their story intersected with Aziza’s.
Shokry (and Shawgia, really): WOW. This story was incredibly captivating. Firstly, Mohamed introduces us properly to Shokry, an important character in the previous two stories. We learn about the history of the three wishes and also of Shokry, seeing how his faith has moulded his view of wishes. In this vein we see how colonialism was a driving force behind Islam being anti-wish. Again, this is a prime example of the thorough and complex world-building Mohamed ingrains throughout the novel. As well as Shokry, we also get a deep insight into Shawgia, Shokry’s friend of 11 years. Her story completely captivated me; it was jaw-dropping, tragic and beautiful all at once. As well as getting to see more of Shokry and Shawgia, a subplot that was woven into the other two stories was resolved here, and we got glimpses of Aziza and Nour, making for an overall satisfying conclusion to the novel.
Before I end this I wanted to comment on the two “guides” that are found after Aziza and Nour’s stories. Usually I don’t like this kind of inclusion as they come off as super info-dumpy; like, why are you depending on a pamphlet to build your world? However, in this case I could tell they were included for fun. The world-building conveyed in the stories themselves is already detailed and comprehensive enough; the two guides merely serve to give extra tidbits and context you could find interesting if you’re into the book. So in this case I found myself completely fascinated by the guides, their being even more proof of how much thought Mohamed has put into her unique world.
Rep: Rep: Hijabi Muslim Egyptian MC, nonbinary (?) Muslim Egyptian MC with depression, Muslim Egyptian MC, Egyptian MC with cancer
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Grief, Terminal illness, and Child death
Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Vomit, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Ableism, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Colonisation, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Racism, Transphobia, War, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Islamophobia, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Major: eye trauma, loss of a loved one (also specifically children) Moderate: sick parent, police corruption, imprisonment, child bride Minor: climate change, colourism, divorce, death of petlifeinpoetry's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child death and Confinement
Minor: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
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