Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

39 reviews

madscientistcat's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Xenophobia

noah_silver's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I liked the two interwoven timelines, the development and growth of the two main characters & their different voices, the different kinds of queerness coming up during the story - and the focus on & omnipresence of birds in the lives of the characters.
However, at some points I found it a bit slow and am still confused about some turns of the story. It might be due to listening to it as an audio book and maybe not catching everything. I was also not completely convinced of the audio book narrator's styles.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Racism, Animal death, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

Minor: Miscarriage, Homophobia, Child death, Transphobia, and War

Description of menstruation; gyn appointment

podanotherjessi's review against another edition

emotional inspiring fast-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

Absolutely beautiful. It really explores the intersection of queerness and Arab identity while also delving into grief all through a dual timeline story of two different Arab-Americans struggling to figure out who they are. Gorgeously written and heart warming and incredible.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia and Racism

laurenleigh's review

challenging dark 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

5.0

Absolutely brilliant. I was rather blown away by this book. It tells a dual narrative, one in present day New York and one in the 20’s or 30’s, of a Syrian immigrant to NY. Both stories were gorgeously deep queer narratives, full of loss, discovery, and finding your true identity in a world that most often seeks to erase you. The intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and immigration status are a heady mix that feels a bit overwhelming at time, but it gave me a valuable bit of insight into lives so different from my own. I highly recommend print or ebook format here. I think an important unfolding of the plot is lost in audio, though I can’t say more without spoilers! 😊

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia

Moderate: Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Death of parent, and Racism

danaaliyalevinson's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

I liked this book a lot! I’m a sucker for a generational story, which are also really hard to pull off well. I think this book has a few contrivances between the two depicted generations but largely pulls off a satisfying conclusion. The prose is beautiful. And as a trans person reading it, the relationship especially between Nadir and Sami was so beautifully rendered.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Transphobia

rmperezpadilla's review against another edition

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Islamophobia, Transphobia, and Racism

emzireads's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Xenophobia, Body shaming, and Body horror

mscalls's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dementia, Medical content, Body horror, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Animal death, Body shaming, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

caidyn's review

emotional hopeful 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

4.25

A heartfelt book dealing with grief, identity, and the past. I loved the links all tying it together. Queerness throughout the ages and how LGBTQ+ Muslims have always been there. I'm very glad I picked this up.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Transphobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, and Homophobia

rexpostfacto's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

Zeyn Joukhadar amazes once again. Their writing always reaches into my soul and leaves fingerprints. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia