Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

13 reviews

marissaumble's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Emotional abuse, War, Child death, Genocide, Mental illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Death of parent

alex_bousquet's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book ripped my heart to shreds! But it also made me laugh and fall in love with salama and Kenan at the same time. A must read by anyone! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death of parent, Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Child death, and Grief

stindex's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Rape, Torture, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Death, Emotional abuse, War, Violence, and Trafficking

msimba's review

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Genocide, War, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Death

coffeekitaab's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

🍋

Salama Kassab is a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom break out in Syria. She lives with her parents in her home that she shares with her older brother, Hamza, who dreams of securing residency at the local hospital as a junior doctor.

Now, Salama volunteers at at the same hospital in Homs, treating the wounded who flood through the doors in their masses everyday. Secretly, Salama yearns to escape her beloved country; circumstances have made it unsafe moreso for her best friend and sister-in-law, Layla, and Layla's unborn child. 

Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country, leaving behind her home, her family, her history and identity and escaping to a land of strangers, the treatment there unknown, crossing turbulent waters, with no guarantee she will even reach her destination anyway. When she crosses paths with a boy she was meant to meet one fateful day, Salama starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.

🍋

This was a enormously moving and very difficult book to read but one that is all the same instilled with hope. That's the message that the author wanted to convey. I would urge everyone to read it, checking the trigger warnings beforehand, but it really is important that everyone reads this. I am angered, upset, ashamed and broken. Before reading,  I couldn't imagine the experiences and human emotions faced by casualties, victims, orphans, the displaced and survivours of lands torn by conflict, the nature of the world we live in results in a degree of separation but - #LemonTrees comes closest to it. Each page paints a very vivid reality before your eyes. We owe it to them to know their story and urge others to make themselves aware. As much as this is a YA novel, it deals with mature topics with poignancy and is certainly not a tale of fiction.

With respect, the rating is only for the platform otherwise this is beyond a rating and I laud the efforts of #ZoulfaKatouh at writing an impactful, heartfelt and heartbreaking debut. 

💔 " I'll tell God everything"
💔 "The thing is hearing about the ocean's rage is different from being caught in the middle of the angry waves"

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Child death, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Violence, and War

Minor: Rape

serendipity421's review

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and War

Minor: Vomit

achazsa's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Islamophobia, and War

Minor: Rape, Police brutality, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

aimee_aj's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Brilliant. Harrowing. Heartbreaking. This is an important book in highlighting the atrocities occurring in Syria and also the plight of refugees. I strongly advise you to check the trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Death, War, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Child death, Physical abuse, and Rape

catorureads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, War, Medical content, Medical trauma, Grief, Child death, Death, Gun violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Deportation

Minor: Sexual harassment

kiwico's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Sexual assault, War, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings