Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

21 reviews

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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? Yes

4.75

This book is just so sorrowful and harrowing. It tells the story of Afra and Nuri and how they are forced to flee their home. In contrast to other stories about refugees, this one focuses on the mental trauma that many  refugees and asylum seekers have to deal with (which is often forgotten). The author has such a beautiful writing style.
I hope more people read this book.
We HAVE to create Safe Refuge Routes to Europe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Death, Trafficking, Grief, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Rape, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Minor: Murder

bethanstanleyy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, War, Islamophobia, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Rape

beataf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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

3.0

very emotional, dark, personal novel on the journey of one syrian couple who become refugees. i really liked being exposed to this perspective, and i learned a lot, but i think its not the strongest writing overall

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Trafficking, Mental illness, Grief, and Sexual assault

The characters are refugees of a brutal war and go on a brutal journey to escape, so they see and experience many horrible things - expect accordingly.

jasminrain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Its the kind of book that ticks all the trigger warnings but you still need to read it. I listened to it as an audiobook and the narrator did an absolutely phenomenal job capturing the characters, their emotions and the world around them. I loved that the story was not linear but jumping back and forth between the present and the past. I can't say that its a book that blowed my mind with twists as it was quite easy to figure out what was coming. 

It's the kind of book that you have to read because of the topic. While its definitely on the heavy side with content and themes, lots of the darker events are actually not discussed in detail which was a bit of a relief. The only thing that I found really appalling was the ableist language that the main character used about her disabled wife. All the other triggers in the book were rooted to the story and the trauma that the characters experienced, but it was the choice of the author to use this language. When I started reading the book I also thought that the author had Syrian background and I was suprised to learn later that she didn't. It kinda made me wonder if that was her story to tell in the first place. 

Regardless of all this I really enjoyed the book. I wanted to keep listening and learning about their journey and all those past events that were discussed in the present. The book was quite fast paced at times and the story of their journey jumping a lot. I think I would have liked to learn more about certain moments. But apart from all that it was such a good book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, War, Death, Mental illness, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Islamophobia, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

Minor: Ableism and Emotional abuse

graybat's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

didn’t expect to like this as much as i did, v emotional 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Murder, and Child abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Blood, Gore, and Violence

tiasy97's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, War, and Murder

Minor: Self harm and Rape

sprucy2427's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

Absolutely stunning book full of heartbreak and hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Trafficking, Slavery, and Rape

tink's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

An important book, a beautiful, heart-wrenching read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, Drug use, and Child death

booksjessreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

What a book. This book gripped me in a lot of ways and was perhaps one of my most insightful books this year. I'll be honest, I kind of didn't get on with the style it was written in at first and I struggled going back and forth from the journey to the UK and being in the UK, but I did get used to it.

The actual language used in the book was beautifully used to make such a poignant and gripping story. The experiences that Nuri and Afra go through is extraordinary and have really stayed with me, making me understand the trauma that refugees go to to find a better home.

The story of Nuri and Afra is also based off of stories Christy Lefteri heard of whilst she was volunteering in a refugee sanctuary in Athens. Despite feeling as though I was often in the story, this added an extra layer of realism for me and made it such a great experience to read.

Overall, I rated this 4 stars because personally I didn't always get along with the set up of the book - each chapter telling a portion of life from their travels, and life in the UK. Whilst cleverly done, it did make reading it a little more difficult for me personally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, and Violence

ashberk18's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Rape