Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

2 reviews

wanderlust_romance's review

challenging reflective sad fast-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? N/A

2.0

Behind You is the Sea is a collection of interconnected short stories that center Palestinian characters. I had high hopes and was excited to see it on the shelves during my last library visit. Alas, it was not my cup of tea. The stories are set in Baltimore, but there is no distinguishing sense of place in these vignettes, nothing that makes you understand what it means to live, work, or grow up there. (The irony of it all was the cover designers note at the end proclaiming how Baltimore itself shined as a character here. WHERE?!) BYITS aimed to do too much and didn't execute on those ideas all that well. These stories touched on weighty subjects such as racism, classism, eating disorders, abortion, family conflicts, femicide, and domestic abuse. The writing style was heavy on the telling as opposed to showing, while also skirting around the issue at center of the story before addressing it with unnatural directness. There was little nuance and very little subtlety, while also not leaving much room for reflection from these characters whose head you've been in throughout the short story. The biggest off-putting aspect though was the cop-aganda in the two stories focusing on Marcus. He's a "good cop" and "overprotective brother" but a "bad son" until he takes his father's body back to Palestine and rushes into marriage (savior complex, much?) with a woman there. It's 2024. Do we need to romanticize police in this day and age? In a city as fraught with racialized and class divisions as Baltimore? Of all the commentary that didn't land...that one fell the most flat.

It was a fast read, which is perhaps the only reason I finished reading rather than quitting midway through.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide attempt, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Bullying, and Self harm

robinks's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This was such a beautiful collection of interwoven, nuanced stories. I loved getting to see the characters from different perspectives. Escorting the Body was a powerful way to end the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Fatphobia, Racism, Body shaming, Infidelity, Alcohol, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent, Ableism, Murder, Bullying, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Drug use, Abandonment, Gun violence, Confinement, Sexual content, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abortion, Blood, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Torture, Addiction, Cancer, Infertility, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy