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nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
5.0
A perfect book. Beautifully interwoven family story spanning about 50 years. I can’t find the words for how much I loved this. Read it immediately.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Torture, Death, and Sexual content
katievh's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Islamophobia, Classism, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and War
Minor: Fatphobia, Cursing, and Sexual content
perfectplaces'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
“I wake up and it feels like my lungs are dropped in ice and I have to count, one two three four, listen to myself taking in air. Sometimes I wonder if this is really the waking world: coffee in a red mug, three children sleeping in three rooms, the television blaring in the background.”
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hala alyan gets it. like i simply cannot stress enough how much she gets it.
this reminds me of khaled hosseini’s and the mountains echoed which is a book i love for its form if not for its content. except salt houses has much more heart and nuance to its portrayal of war and conflict and cyclical trauma and identity and exile than any of hosseini’s books. like mountains, a lot of the reviews for this book complain about its style of incorporating short vignettes from different povs that make up a multi generational story. but like. i like that. i think it’s fun and good and i just love the yacoub family so much (atefTT_TT) and i started to see myself and the people i know in all of them. so i don’t rly agree with any of the reviews saying we didn’t have time to get to know the characters like yes. we did. the girls that get it get it.
anyway this is a new favorite and i think i will recommend forever.
-
hala alyan gets it. like i simply cannot stress enough how much she gets it.
this reminds me of khaled hosseini’s and the mountains echoed which is a book i love for its form if not for its content. except salt houses has much more heart and nuance to its portrayal of war and conflict and cyclical trauma and identity and exile than any of hosseini’s books. like mountains, a lot of the reviews for this book complain about its style of incorporating short vignettes from different povs that make up a multi generational story. but like. i like that. i think it’s fun and good and i just love the yacoub family so much (atefTT_TT) and i started to see myself and the people i know in all of them. so i don’t rly agree with any of the reviews saying we didn’t have time to get to know the characters like yes. we did. the girls that get it get it.
anyway this is a new favorite and i think i will recommend forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Torture, Dementia, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Grief, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Fatphobia
Minor: Alcoholism and Vomit
cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I loved 💕this book more than I know how to explain.
𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 by 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗔𝗹𝘆𝗮𝗻 is a multi generational family saga spanning half a century (1963-2014). It’s a story about 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, war, family, and home. In the book we follow the Yacoub family as they relocate (often out of necessity) from Jaffa to Nablus, to Kuwait City, to Amman, to Paris, to Beruit, and to Boston. The narration alternates between 8 different members of the Yacoub family during different stages of their life. That sounds like it would be confusing, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.
While the Yacoubs are often forced to relocate due to war, war is not the main focus of the book. Instead the book focuses on the displacement from home and how that displacement affects the different generations.
This is one particularly poignant passage that highlights this theme:
“𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘉𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 7, 8 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘞𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘕𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘴. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘵𝘦𝘧, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢? 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯?”
This theme is repeated again and again throughout the novel, as the older generations remark on how little Arabic the younger generations understand. As the younger generations note that while they are Palestinian they’ve never 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 to Palestine. That there accents are more Lebanese than Palestinian. That they don’t know where their grand parents were born. They refer to themselves as 𝗺𝘂𝘁𝘁𝘀.
There’s so much more I could say about this book. So many passages that just stuck with me. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Torture, and Racism
justinlife's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Torture
emerynmader's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Fatphobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Vomit, Violence, Torture, and Sexual content
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