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denteaste's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
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? Yes
5.0
i don't think i have the words to write how beautifully written this book was
the characters are complex and interesting and very human in their flaws and their quest of trying to find a meaning to life itself, the representation feels organic and it is so important to show that LGBTQ+ people were not invented in the 2000s
the two stories were nicely woven in one another, with a touch of a magical realism
the characters are complex and interesting and very human in their flaws and their quest of trying to find a meaning to life itself, the representation feels organic and it is so important to show that LGBTQ+ people were not invented in the 2000s
the two stories were nicely woven in one another, with a touch of a magical realism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Miscarriage, Death, Dysphoria, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Violence, and War
Minor: Dementia
hramona's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
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
5.0
A book hasn’t touched me like this and left me with tears on my face since The Death of Vivek Oji. Utterly divine. Breathtaking. Magical.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death
unboxedjack's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book. THIS BOOK. I went into expecting some emotional response, but not to the degree I just experienced. Joukhadar's prose is beautiful enough to stir a reaction, but his deft ability to use language to speak the unspoken in such a genuine and humble fashion is truly remarkable. This book provided that and more. The keen attention to the intersection of race, gender, SES, and sexuality (just to name a few) gave this book an authenticity I've rarely seen. And as a transguy, I can't put into words just how cathartic it was to see such verisimilitude of that lived experience reflected back to me; I didn't know how hungry I was for that until I came to the last 50 pages or so.
This was a book I didn't want to end, but I can't imagine it ending any other way. It migrated its way into my heart and will nest there for quite some time. Five stars, no question about it.
This was a book I didn't want to end, but I can't imagine it ending any other way. It migrated its way into my heart and will nest there for quite some time. Five stars, no question about it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Grief, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Racism, and Transphobia
laurareads87's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Thirty Names of Night is stunning -- beautiful writing, well structured, nuanced and well-developed characters and a clear setting. The story alternates between two perspectives -- that of a young Syrian-American trans man living in contemporary-ish Little Syria in NYC, and that of Laila Z, a Syrian American artist who painted and drew birds and who disappeared decades prior. Both are written in second person, with Nadir addressing his deceased mother and Laila Z's chapters in epistolary format. This book had me in tears more than once (in the best possible way), and Joukhadar has handled many themes here -- immigration, loss, xenophobia, the pain of contorting oneself to fit gendered expectations, struggles with religion, grief, internalized and external trans- & homophobia, family (birth and chosen) -- so beautifully. I am immensely grateful to Zeyn Joukhadar for this book, and look forward to reading more from him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
Minor: War
cereads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-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 book has honestly left me speechless.
The prose was so incredibly rich and poetic. Joukhadar is definitely a master of language: every word he used struck exactly the right cord.
The queer people in this book were wonderfully written - in a very natural, honest but still raw and vulnerable way. Incredible.
And the story has left me choked up and emotional, in a good way. I immediately want to reread this book.
The prose was so incredibly rich and poetic. Joukhadar is definitely a master of language: every word he used struck exactly the right cord.
The queer people in this book were wonderfully written - in a very natural, honest but still raw and vulnerable way. Incredible.
And the story has left me choked up and emotional, in a good way. I immediately want to reread this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Death, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual content
imds's review
emotional
hopeful
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia and Death
dosymedia's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Chronic illness and Dementia
Minor: Deadnaming and Animal death
internationalreads's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Grief
perpetualpages's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
CWs: Graphic descriptions of medical complications due to menstruation, allusions to homophobia and racism, mentions of Islamophobic violence/hate crimes, brief descriptions of sexual assault, trauma relating to fires, exploration of grief and loss of a parent
"I think of the last time I used my hands to make something beautiful. As long as my body was not for myself, I stopped allowing myself the luxury of wanting...I bend and untangle and step out of my body. I lightning myself into this swollen room where boys like me are arcing and vaulting our unruly bodies, shaking the wet newness from our wings."
The Thirty Names of Night is a tremendous feat of literature. Ambitious in scope, unflinching in its prose, and characterized by deeply-felt emotion, this story weaves a narrative that is both haunting and hopeful in equal measures. It's about the echoes of love and grief that sound from the unlikeliest of places, searching for meaning in a world that all too often seeks to isolate and destroy that which is separate, and the ways we are wholly and irrevocably connected to the people who've come before us.
This is a story about a young Syrian-American trans man trying to find a place within his communities and a name for himself. He is haunted by the death of his mother, who was killed in an Islamophobic hate crime, and in many ways desperately trying to preserve her legacy by completing her ornithological research. The convention of naming is so powerful throughout this story. To give something a name is to give it power, to assign meaning, to recognize and understand where it belongs. So to have Nadir discovering and naming his own transness is powerful—to have him naming his grief, naming his own sense of loss and isolation, gives him a means to begin addressing those things. It's very much a story about him coming into his own, and what that means and looks like in a world where "different" is telegraphed "dangerous."
The way the two POVs interact with each other and support each other is especially profound. As Nadir goes through Laila's journals, you get the sense that history is always happening to us, the past is always with us, and those who came before us often fought for the same things we continue to fight for ourselves. There's an acknowledgement of the stories that the world has tried to erase, the stories that don't get a chance to be told because they're buried. But sometimes that burying is for safe-keeping, to ensure a means of these stories surviving so that they might live on in someone else and empower the generations we are not even capable of imagining yet. Some stories don't get a chance to be told, but that doesn't mean they're aren't valuable or important.
This book is a ballad, a poem, a love letter, and an entire world unto itself. It is a love letter to queer communities of color, immigrants, trans people, and those who are invested in expanding the world instead of shrinking it. It contains some of the most gut-wrenchingly honest descriptions of transness and transmasculinity that I've ever read, and really makes space for the sense of loneliness and placelessness that comes with that experience while also exploring and celebrating the beauty of transition.
I do not have the words to express how profoundly truthful and thoughtful this story is. An intricate blend of historical and contemporary fiction, The Thirty Names of Night is an incredible addition to the literary canon. I cannot wait to read so much more from Zeyn Joukhadar, whose vision and creativity I deeply admire after experiencing this truly phenomenal story. I cannot recommend it enough!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual content
mandkips's review
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Death, Xenophobia, Grief, and Hate crime