Reviews

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

literarylawgirl's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.0

juicedavis's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

hello_neko's review

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

5.0

courtneylamb2's review

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challenging hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I lived this book. Short and was able to read over the weekend. The characters are all diverse and focus on little bit of their community, loss, religion, displacement, community and motherhood to name a few. The characters were so well developed in just a few short sentences. Would highly recommend!

delz's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

Behind you is the Sea is a beautifully written collection of interconnected stories. The stories revolve around Palestinian Americans, some related, some acquaintances, with the timelines not being linear. It’s an exploration into being Palestinian living in America. It’s more of an adjustment for the older folks and frustrating for the younger generation because they clash with their parents over American culture and Palestinian culture. They also deal with racism and poverty even though they were promised a better life. The author brings out the beautiful, richness of the Palestinian culture. 

breezyruizy's review

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emotional 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

_louw's review

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5.0

I love this so much. Interconnected short stories about working-class Palestinians around Baltimore.  Beautiful stories, beautiful writing

uhhadrianna's review

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

3.75

charleshasalibrary's review

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

4.5

mxmacalla's review

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emotional reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0