Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

7 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

juliana_reads's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

4.5

Wow. A beautiful collection of interconnected short stories. Each one made my heart ache for one reason or another. I think The Hashtag, Gyroscopes, Cleaning Lentils, and Worry Beads were my favorite. In just a few pages, each of these stories somehow felt complete (though I of course wanted more!) which is a testament to the author’s skill. My only challenge was that there were a few time jumps that were tricky to figure out along with the changing POV. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Colonisation

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Sexism, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Abortion and Sexual content

ukponge's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide attempt, Grief, Dementia, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

this was absolutely amazing, the interwoven narratives were so powerful and raw. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Grief, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Classism, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, and Sexual content

skye_era_books's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

5.0

With books that are just interconnected stories, I typically find myself not liking at least 1 or 2 of them. But I was completely immersed into this book. I wanted to know more about each of their lives. This audiobook could have been 30 hours long and I still would have loved it, though I think 6.5 hours was perfect. I loved learning more about their Palestinian-American lives

and even one being able to return home to Palestine after death.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Islamophobia, Classism, Cancer, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Dementia

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

metaphorsandmisc's review

emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dementia, Cultural appropriation, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Murder, Rape, Toxic relationship, War, Abortion, Eating disorder, Self harm, Body shaming, Colonisation, and Gun violence

Minor: Ableism, Infertility, and Suicide attempt