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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
This is an amazing survival story about a world many don't know about. I can't believe how tough she had to be in order to endure the torture, forced marriage, and then rape. I am so lucky to have grown up in Canada and have not had to face any of these things but do many young girls in other places do and they need to be heard. This book is a voice to do many women and is an amazing story.
I don’t usually review books but this was incredible. So heartfelt, makes you constantly address your perspectives of the individuals and question that. I particularly love how despite suffering so much at the hands of an Islamist regime, that Marina remained consistently respectful and hopeful.
This true story read like fiction! It was a sort of crash course in 1980s Iranian politics, and well crafted to boot. Marina’s story is mild compared to what many endured at Evin no doubt, but I am grateful she shared her story.
Like others have mentioned, this isn't an example of a well written memoir, however I found the story compelling and worthy of reading. I am the same age as Marina and that thought stuck with me the entire time I was reading this story. While I was living a typical American high school life, Marina and others like her were being tortured for what seems like trivial actions and attitudes to me. Forced to marry her guard and being warmly received by his family is just another example to me where truth is stranger than fiction. I'm grateful to have read this story and feel blessed to have the life I have without any worries of revolution.
The evil and brutality that exists in this world is mind numbing. And how anyone can survive it is equally astonishing. Thankfully, Marina Nemat did. And thankfully, she chose to share her nightmare with millions.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Really engaging writing. Following along, I wanted to know how Marina’s story turned out. Marina being a Christian in Tehran was an interesting perspective to read and makes me want to learn more about the history of the Iran. I also would like to learn more about Muslim perspectives on this memoir. This read left me with many questions by the end and I enjoyed reading the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, War
Really enjoyed reading this for class and was surprised about all of the controversy surrounding it that my professor discussed! Memoirs are strange.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I do seem to have a thing for reading memoirs of women from the Middle East. To the point where they all become a much of a muchness, and this isn't the best I've read. Which feels like a bit of a harsh thing to say in a way, because this isn't fiction - this is someone's experiences of a particularly turbulant time. Written down so that it shouldn't be forgotten.
Marina Nemat is interesting though in the fact that she isn't a Muslim. She was a Christian girl living in Tehran, with Iranian and Russian heritage. She was a teenager in the early 80s during the revolution when the Shah was overthrown and the Islamic state came into power. She ended up locked up in a prison, Evin, outside Tehran for several years, originally with a death sentance which was reduced to a life sentance. Not because of her religion but because she'd been to some rallies and knew some people who were in communist groups, and because her dear old headteacher handed in a list of pupils suspected of being "terrorists". What on earth were they hoping to achieve, locking up all these kids, beating them and executing them, and what for? Horrid, horrid.
Marina survived because one of the guards took a fancy to her, and blackmailed her into marrying him, saying if she didn't agree, he'd kill her parents and the guy she was in love with. This guard was nuts - he actually thought they'd have a proper loving relationship on the basis on all these lies and blackmailing! You can tell some years have passed before she wrote this, because she does write about him in the most positive light you could possibily manage.
Marina Nemat is interesting though in the fact that she isn't a Muslim. She was a Christian girl living in Tehran, with Iranian and Russian heritage. She was a teenager in the early 80s during the revolution when the Shah was overthrown and the Islamic state came into power. She ended up locked up in a prison, Evin, outside Tehran for several years, originally with a death sentance which was reduced to a life sentance. Not because of her religion but because she'd been to some rallies and knew some people who were in communist groups, and because her dear old headteacher handed in a list of pupils suspected of being "terrorists". What on earth were they hoping to achieve, locking up all these kids, beating them and executing them, and what for? Horrid, horrid.
Marina survived because one of the guards took a fancy to her, and blackmailed her into marrying him, saying if she didn't agree, he'd kill her parents and the guy she was in love with. This guard was nuts - he actually thought they'd have a proper loving relationship on the basis on all these lies and blackmailing! You can tell some years have passed before she wrote this, because she does write about him in the most positive light you could possibily manage.