Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed M. Masood

27 reviews

macklyle's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This was a different read from my usual, but  I am glad I picked up. Being that it is Ramadan, I wanted to read something related. I learned a lot about not only what it means to be muslim, but to be muslim americans.
 In many ways i felt like I was reading my boyfriend’s life on paper… it was comical at times the stories Anvar shared I swear i’ve heard before! 

cons- it was a really slow story line and often felt like it wasn’t headed in any direction. i struggled to read it at my normal reading pace because I felt really sad most of the time reading Safwas POV. - my heart hurt the whole time and it made me have to take breaks. 
pros- felt like an authentic depiction of what life and religion and family often looks like for immigrants and muslim families. I was educated and informed in a way that was easy to understand and empathize with by how the author writes. 
lots of little life lessons through out that i loved 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Cultural appropriation, Child abuse, Animal death, Blood, and Death of parent

fmostafiz's review

emotional reflective 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

3.75

I enjoyed reading this. It was an interesting piece on religion & very reflective.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Islamophobia, War, Violence, Physical abuse, and Rape

osoordinary's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

It amazes me that I could relate to each four of the characters in this book for different reasons. That's what good writing can do. Also, I don't when I became such a fan of irreverent humor, but I'm here for it.  WOW! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

jebecky's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Animal death, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Slavery, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Classism, Death, Cancer, Gun violence, War, Medical content, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy

I couldn't finish this book due to the content triggers.

khaleesimod93's review

challenging emotional informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I got all the feels from this book! It was not only well written, but the emotions evoked from the characters' stories had me bawling. I can not for the life of me stop being so angry at the way Safwa's father treated her. He was beating her almost to death because her brother died. It wasn't her fault, and I just wanted to kill him for what he did. And continued to do throughout the book! My heart absolutely broke for Safwa. She deserved so much better than the cards she was dealt. I didn't really care for Anvars point of view. He came off extremely selfish, but I did like his bucking up and shedding the Islamic religion. He asked questions. And he fought the indoctrination. It's the only thing I liked about him. The way he treated Zhula pissed me off. Then, he betrayed Safwa the way he did. Zhula also made me sick! I didn't like her, but I was glad she helped Safwa escape. I loved Safwa! And I hope her life is happy and peaceful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Xenophobia

baileyk123's review

hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, War, Torture, Death, Deportation, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, and Islamophobia

smc15's review

emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: War and Torture

lindsloveslit's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

3.0

The beginning part of this book gave me such high hopes. So much so, I thought it was going to end up being my favorite fiction of the month. In it, two immigrants, one Iraqi and one Pakistani, have a coming of age story full of moral dilemma. IMO, none of the characters were likable. There were a lot of quotable snippets, but, ultimately, I was left wanting more character development and storyline and less romance. 

The quote that sticks out most to me, happens to tie in nicely to The 1619 Project, which I just finished :
"We live on stolen land. In a country built on slavery and reliant on the continued economic exploitation of other people. The oppressor always lives in fear of the oppressed. Americans have always been afraid - of those native to this continent, of Black people, of Japanese citizens they interned, and now of Muslims and immigrants."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child death

peachani's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Islamophobia, Terminal illness, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, Torture, and Medical content

kbeucler'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? Yes

4.5

I don't really know what I was expecting from this book but it surprised me every step of the way. I loved the intimate portrayal of different experiences of Muslim immigrants living in the US. I liked the messy characters and their messy lives and Anvar's messy family (but not Safwa's messy family). Very contemplative and nuanced and kind.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault