Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

36 reviews

rorikae's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

'The Thirty Names of Night' by Zeyn Joukhadar is an exquisite story about identity, birds, and belonging.
The story weaves between two narratives. The first follows a Syrian American trans boy struggling after the death of his mother. Longing to be his full self, he paints murals at night. One night he comes across the journal of a Syrian American artist who may have encountered the same rare bird as one that his mother saw as well. Haunted by the ghost of his mother, he searches for what happened to this artist who disappeared years ago. As he searches for what happened to her, we also get to experience her journals and the story of how she came to America and became a painter. As both stories progress they become more and more entangled. 
Joukhadar's storytelling is beautiful. His prose is lush, conjuring up the worlds of both of his protagonists. We come to fall in love with the birds that Nadir and Laila experience as we also come to care deeply for each of the characters. They stand as one of the incredibly strong parts of this book. Flawed and deeply human, both are searching for where they belong, parallel stories across time. 
As someone who loves birds and art, Joukhadar does a wonderful job of painting a picture with his words that makes the reader feel as if they are right beside the characters. This is truly a beautiful book and one that I think everyone should read. The audiobook is phenomenal and the two narrators do a great job of capturing the emotions behind both of the characters. I will definitely be checking out more of Joukhadar's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Transphobia, Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Deadnaming

Minor: Sexual content

jojo_'s review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Cancer, and Homophobia

Minor: Transphobia, Deadnaming, War, and Dementia

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 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Miscarriage, Death, Dysphoria, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Violence, and War

Minor: Dementia

revoluca's review

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

I loved you once, and I love you still, but not all migrations end with a return home. Even memory begins to cut if you hold on to it too tight. I don't know anymore if I believe in angels and signs. Perhaps we are the miraculous creatures my mother was looking for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Transphobia, Hate crime, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Grief

solenekeleroux's review

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Transphobia, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Grief

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.

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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.

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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

seawarrior's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-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

This is such a beautiful book. Multiple times I re-read passages to ensure I fully absorbed their words and weight. The pages shine with poetry and reflections on grief, and end more rewardingly than I had dared to hope. I highly suggest reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Cancer, and Dementia

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Islamophobia and Xenophobia

baponthecob's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, and Transphobia

Minor: Blood, Cancer, Dementia, Sexual assault, and Sexual content