Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

1 review

heatherinjapan's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

While I personally quite enjoyed this book, take my rating with a grain of salt. I've heard plenty of people in other reviews say that it hasn't aged well and that it doesn't accurately portray how Saudi Arabia actually is. Some people I definitely don't agree with though, saying that these girls are vapid and only care about gossip and men. I personally found that the majority of these characters had quite a bit of growth. There was hardly any gossip so I don't get that. While a lot of the book is focused on the women traversing relationships with men, it still comes back to their friendships and how they learn from their mistakes and grow. 

Also, I highly suggest looking into the controversy over this book getting an English translation. As an aspiring translator of novels, it has made me learn about how biases can be interwoven into translations (in this case of both the translator AND the author- it was a messy project it seems) and to be careful. Also that the relationship between author and translator can be rocky and not always end on good terms. (We can see that in the acknowledgements at the end of the book)

Forgot to mention there is some racism towards Asian women in this, so be warned. It's about 1/3 in
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