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allisoncc's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Dysphoria, and Medical content
Moderate: Outing, Miscarriage, War, Racism, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Dementia
Minor: Chronic illness
yasidiaz's review against another edition
- 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
That said, this book is the exception to this rule. If I was forced to pick one complaint about this book is how I wished I read a physical copy instead through Libby. I actually don't like reading on my phone that much, but without Libby, I would be broke (well, more broke than I already am). But that has nothing to do with the book and everything to do with me.
I'm genderfluid, but also Trans Masc, so reading this story about a closeted Trans Man felt personal to me. Nadir's struggles with his identities plus what happened to his mom, drew me into this story. When he stumbled upon Laila's journals and then reading about her life in the early 20th Century had me so curious and starving for more. I'm sure if I had this book in my actual hands I would have devoured it.
The romance in the book also filled me up with hope and left me soft and tender. It's not a crucial part of the story, a subplot if you must, but seeing both our MCs go through love left me sobbing a few times.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual content
camillatd's review
- 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
While this novel contains a lot of pain (from gender dysphoria to grief to racism and xenophobia), it’s full of love and beauty. The novel is rich with symbolism, birds and ghosts and paintings and flowers and secrets, scenes that took my breath away.
This was another book that allowed me to sit in the wise grief/wise joy that I’ve been reflecting on since I read Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: “I hope that when there is laughter, it’s laughter made wise by having known real grief—and when there if grief, it is made wise by having known real joy.”
This is a novel about community, and how caring for each other and making art is a form of resistance. Moving from Syria to New York City to Dearborn, Michigan, the story explores how community ties are enshrined in structures, but how they also transcend buildings, places, and cities. Joukhadar also crafts a moving narrative of queer resilience across time and place. The novel’s cast of predominantly queer and trans characters carve out space and community and love and family for themselves, in deeply queer and deeply beautiful ways. Queer and trans people have always been here, and we always will be.
Graphic: Dysphoria, War, Transphobia, and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Death, and Sexual content
jennswan's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Transphobia, Racism, Misogyny, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Sexual assault
purlewe's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
rhi_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Dysphoria
Minor: Racism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Lesbophobia
sydneyl23's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Xenophobia, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Islamophobia
Minor: Child death, Animal death, and Sexual content
zombiezami's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Xenophobia, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Medical content, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexism, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Transphobia
Minor: War, Mass/school shootings, Colonisation, and Dementia
Colorismreading_mermaid's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
It is incredibly well written and laid out with endearing, lovable characters. I so highly recommend it.
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Racism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Islamophobia
Minor: Hate crime and Sexual harassment
madzie's review
- 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
My favorite part of this book was how Joukhadar explores transness, gender, and queerness with beautiful insights and understandings. He boldly tells stories of how queer people have always existed and will always exist despite being silenced or staying silent for protection. With a large cast of queer characters, I love how the book deals with how other people see queerness and how it is a fight to be one’s authentic self. The nuances of how queerness is viewed in society and then in smaller relationships with friends and family is masterfully detailed as Joukhadar demonstrates how people can react to it, thinking that you owe them something, but how we have to journey to accept that we only owe it to ourselves to be authentically us. Then, Joukhadar takes this a step further to connect to the intersectionality of oppression and what the majority of society believes those they have put under them should be. Despite this, Joukhadar reminds his readers of hope and the courage of fighting for oneself, one's identity, and what one believes in. In the end, he highlights lessons, purposes, and identities that are highly important for us to consider and carry with us in our lives.
Other deep and profound themes are handled wonderfully in this novel, exploring grief and moving on, as well as how humans continue to affect one another, the appreciativeness of what we take for granted, and the beautiful connection of humanity to nature, reminding us that nothing ever truly fits into a box. All of these interact with each other to show us how magnificent life can be and how we become who we are.
I could go on and on about this novel, but the bottom line is: read it; it's stunning.
Graphic: Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Death
Moderate: Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual content