Reviews tagging 'Violence'

فرانكشتاين في بغداد by Ahmed Saadawi

43 reviews

wishbea's review against another edition

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

4.5


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hoppskotch's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Honestly, one of the finest adaptations of classic literature into modern sociopolitical contexts. I highly recommend this to anyone who either enjoys the creature feature genre or just in general is looking to expand their adult fiction and horror bookshelf. So many of the characters are complex that equally measures that they are written with deep respect to each person's humanity. That being said there are quite a handful of characters who I could have lived without but were essential for the plot and overall were enriching. An incredible dive into the moral and philosophical nature of death, murder, criminality, and victimhood within the context of war and loss. This has become one of my favorite books nearly overnight. 

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sugarbucky's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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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jsuispoesie's review against another edition

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

3.5


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elysephone_escapes's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

more speedreading for my essays - one day I'll actually be on top of everything 

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sandsing7's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25


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abbie_'s review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

I struggled with this one for a good 40% but I thought the pay off would be worth it so I kept at it - and I was sort of right! It did get a lot easier to keep track of the large cast of characters, and I became more invested in the story. Like a lot of reviewers, I’m confused by the ‘horrifically funny’ tagline on the cover (what did you read, Brian Van Reet??), as it’s ultimately a very bleak and dark book about war, violence begetting violence, the line between criminality and innocence. While I’m glad I persevered, I also came away feeling like I’d missed something - probably just the more philosophical parts going over my head!

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addyruth17's review against another edition

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informative mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The application of the ideas surrounding Frankenstein were intriguing here: vengeance, guilt and innocence, humanity's collective anger and grief.  The rest of the book didn't really live up to the promise of this premise: I'd say there were too many plot lines and I wasn't very invested in any of them.  The clunky translation also brought the reading experience down.

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toffishay's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is one of my favorite books of all time and I am so intrigued by how stories that we know can be reimagined and adapted to analyze different fears and different times with different actors. In the case of Frankenstein in Baghdad, the tale of a Frankenstein monster is not used to expose fears of science and paternalism, but of exploring violence and the impacts of war, religion and spirituality, and identity and purpose. All that I didn't like was that I would have liked more exploration of the female characters who have interesting stories, but not as much time on the page and some characters get a lot of time, but little payoff. I think that if you are interested in horror and a reimagined classic, this is certainly worth your time.

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lizlikesfrogs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.75


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