Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

9 reviews

kajasversion's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring sad fast-paced

4.5

I have the same praise for the sequel as I did for the first novel. I would just add that I love the way the narrative voice and the topics dealt with mature with the character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicide attempt, War, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

pacifickat's review

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

I have been enjoying the sub-genre of 'graphic novel memoire' recently, and this duology was a solid addition. Both books are interesting and informative about the history of Iran in the 1980's and '90's. However, while the book is fairly nuanced, I found it lacking a bit in empathy. 

I don't always love young adult Marjane, even if her overall story is worth the time to read. (Her father, however, is an absolute gem.) I often perceive her as quite selfish, although she had to live alone in a foreign country starting at age 14 so her self-centeredness may be fueled by survival instict. There is one particularly disturbing scene

when she is in her twenties and returned to Iran where she accuses an innocent man of sexual harrassment, which gets him arrested and carted off, all so she can avoid police attention due to wearing makeup outside her home. She seems genuinely confused when her grandmother is mad at her for behaving in such a way toward another person.

Furthermore, her family's relative wealth helps her get out of a lot of situations without physical harm, and she seems unaware of the privilege this is. Then she judges her friends and peers when they make choices to 'play it safe' rather than fighting the oppressive government, attending covert parties as a form of protest, or pushing back against gender norms and expectations. She doesn't seem to fully grasp how much others around her stand to lose if they hold on too hard to their idealism. 

I also found the internalized sexism of the women the author portrayed to be really sad and disturbing. There are lots of scenes of women glaring at each other when one is receiving a man's attention seemingly out of jealousy or disapproval. Plus, Marjane's internal dialogue often calls other women names like 'fat cow' when she finds them interacting with a man she is interested in, or she doesn't like the same things they do. I found her pretty mean and catty much of the time. However, while she is a very flawed character, she still suffers as a victim of racism, mysogeny, abusive laws, and police brutality. Her plight and suffering should still matter to the reader. This type of representation is actually a bit refreshing to see, even if it is challenging or uncomfortable to spend time in that narrator's shoes.

These books have faced recent bans in the US, so even more reason to check them out in my opinion. I don't see any reason why Part 1 would be inappropriate for age 13+, and Part 2 for age 15+. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Violence, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, War, Mental illness, Police brutality, Death, Self harm, Racism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Rape

Minor: Infidelity and Pregnancy

Pressure to become pregnant, pressure to conform to religious ideology, restrictions on freedom of thought, restrictions on bodily autonomy, false imprisonment, homelessness, internalized sexism

strawberrytheauthor's review

challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

The second part of Marjane Satrapi’s life. In this memoir she discusses her journey in Europe, the events that led her back to Iran, and eventually to France. 

I really enjoyed reading this book. I love the format, if I had to choose one format for memoirs to read forever it would be graphic novels. It gives the reader a unique experience to see more than words and adds to the identification with the main character. Having this book and her first in graphic novel format helped me to see and understand what her life was truly like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Islamophobia, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Confinement, Misogyny, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content, War, Grief, Infidelity, and Gun violence

Minor: Murder and Medical content

lizzie24601's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Satrapi is a great cartoonist and memoirist. She balances very well between detailing the emotions and faults of her youth and providing added context in hindsight. There's something here for every reader to relate to (regarding this coming of age), as well as a lot to learn about life in 1980s-90s Iran.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Police brutality, Violence, Drug abuse, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death, Torture, Xenophobia, War, and Alcohol

dylweed's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, War, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death

harriet_dolby's review

dark funny informative reflective fast-paced

2.75

I found this second book slightly underwhelming after enjoying the first book so much. I think that was partly due to the first book covering the time before and during the iranian war, which the poltical an dhistorical aspect interested me the most. However, this second book more focused on the narrators life, which while important, I found less engaging and interesting than the first. As I was reading this book, I was highlighting all of the interesting moments, facts and events that take place (which I would like to write up so I can help learn that content better) and it was really clear the difference in amount of highlighting in the first book than the second.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, and Drug use

sallytiffany's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

This was a good story and I loved the progression of growing up. I still had a hard time understanding the story at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

ninahuynh's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

I loved seeing Marjane's growth as a character and a teenager to young adulthood. Makes you put into perspective the many different lives people are living, and how war and death and oppression can shape and mold you is whichever it wants unless you are willing to stand up for what you believe in.   I wish there was more to read!!

Read more in my blog: https://niansworld.wordpress.com/2022/02/20/persepolis-the-story-of-a-return-3-4-marjane-satrapi/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Sexual harassment

thalassaio's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Police brutality, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Islamophobia