Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed

13 reviews

culpeppper's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This offers really significant insights into human desire, necessity, confidence,  resilience, generosity, and empathy, or the lack of those things. Each of the stories are engaging in their own way, building of the narrative of the previous section to bolster it, and provide affirmation to the stories themes. The art is beautiful, with characters distinct and reflecting their personality when words wouldn't do justice. The storylines are engaging, offering love and reality to each of their plights. The world building is fantastic as well, and the intermissions between stories fill in gaps are fun additions. Really happy this came across my path!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Violence, Classism, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Medical content, and Cancer

Minor: Infertility, Religious bigotry, Drug use, and War

abookwormspov's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This story is both beautiful and bizzare. I loved every second of it. Nour's story in particular hit so close to home for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Medical content, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Classism, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, and Murder

clarabooksit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Grief, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Classism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Police brutality

Minor: Miscarriage, Transphobia, Car accident, and Murder

phrasecollector13___'s review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

My first five star of the year!!!  I really loved these book and the stories it gave us.  I went into the reading with the typical (Disney) idea fo a genie: in a lamp, big and blue man and three wishes.  I didn't expected been hit by a whole system of wishes, law/rules to handle and use wishes.  It was an amazing ride and emotional ride to go through every story of the characters in the book.  Honestly, Deena really created a world between 500 pages.  And I'm not starting with the genies, I'm sorry, I love the images of the genies in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Mental illness, Violence, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Terminal illness, and War

sgksoccer5's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Child death, Death, Colonisation, Confinement, Murder, War, Violence, Grief, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

ferdie's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

I am so happy to be finishing the year with this book because it is easily my favorite of 2023. The stories are each beautiful and unique, and hold each other sweetly. The art style is gorgeous- there is details galore that each add into the story. The book helps you understand cultural references in a way that doesn't pull you out of the story. I am so excited to share this book- it's a good read for folks wanting a story about human wants, morality and connection. I am in love ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Confinement

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Murder

jayisreading's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

This was such a beautifully crafted graphic novel, and I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner. It's a hefty book with over 500 pages, but you'll fly through those pages pretty quickly because of how engaging the story is. Mohamed does a stunning job weaving into our reality the existence of wishes, creating an elaborate system around the different types of wishes that could be made, as well as the issues that come with making certain kinds of wishes. There are a lot of fascinating debates around the ethics of making wishes that really had me thinking about what I would do if I were ever given a first-class wish.

The graphic novel is divided into three stories, though they are all interconnected through a devout Muslim man who is trying to get rid of three first-class wishes. Each story was so gripping, though I was especially taken to the second story that focused on Nour, whose struggle with depression was so well presented in all its complexities that tie into one's culture, one's position in society, and more.

I could not have asked for more from a story, if I'm honest. Mohamed is a brilliant storyteller and illustrator, giving the reader plenty to chew on as you read, while also not overwhelming them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Cancer, Violence, and Confinement

emily_mh's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

This graphic novel was simply stunning. I will go into detail in my review of each of the three stories, but just know it is rich in character, world-building, and plot. The three stories are linked together to make the overall novel cohesive. The art style was just wonderful, being really bold and eye-catching. I loved the way Mohamed drew people, particularly how she showed family resemblance and aging. I’m not usually a fan of black-and-white colour palettes, as this novel mostly employs, but here it really worked.

Aziza: I liked how this story was told in a mix of present-day and flashbacks. It served to give a lot of depth to Aziza and her relationship with Abdo, explaining her actions in the present. What really struck me about this story in particular was how it explored a real-world issue through a fantastical concept. As a result of procuring a first-class wish, Aziza finds herself facing police corruption and false imprisonment. Because of her class and the lack of resources and legislative knowledge this entails, the police and justice system take advantage of her, leaving her with little power over her future. Take out the wish aspect of this tale and you having something that happens in the real-world, too. This is a testament to Mohamed’s impeccable world-building: everything about this fantastical Earth seems EXACTLY like what the real world would look like if wishes were involved.

Nour: oof, this one. The depiction of depression here was utterly fantastic, as was the depiction of the ableist attitudes that can make seeking and finding help difficult. Nour was an intensely relatable character for me, in their black-and-white thinking and unrelenting standards for themself. I think this story also touched on how queerness impacts mental health (as I think Nour was nonbinary based on their pronouns), or if not, how differing gender presentation does so when you live in a binary society. What I found particularly fascinating was the introduction of the ethics of wish-making, the story revealing that wishes are sentient beings corralled into use. On another serious note, the story shows that people have been using wishes to wish their, or their child’s, disability away. I’m not really sure where I stand on how the issue was represented in this story - I think parents wishing away their child’s disability without consent should at least have been condemned; then again, perhaps the child character in question’s facial expression when talking about this topic was supposed to convey condemnation. On the other hand, individuals wishing away their own disability is complex and nuanced, so I wasn’t looking for the author to “take a stance” on this particular matter as it’s not really possible to generalise the issue to that point. In any case, I think Nour’s particular situation was handled well. As a side note, it was cool seeing how their story intersected with Aziza’s.

Shokry (and Shawgia, really): WOW. This story was incredibly captivating. Firstly, Mohamed introduces us properly to Shokry, an important character in the previous two stories. We learn about the history of the three wishes and also of Shokry, seeing how his faith has moulded his view of wishes. In this vein we see how colonialism was a driving force behind Islam being anti-wish. Again, this is a prime example of the thorough and complex world-building Mohamed ingrains throughout the novel. As well as Shokry, we also get a deep insight into Shawgia, Shokry’s friend of 11 years. Her story completely captivated me; it was jaw-dropping, tragic and beautiful all at once. As well as getting to see more of Shokry and Shawgia, a subplot that was woven into the other two stories was resolved here, and we got glimpses of Aziza and Nour, making for an overall satisfying conclusion to the novel.

Before I end this I wanted to comment on the two “guides” that are found after Aziza and Nour’s stories. Usually I don’t like this kind of inclusion as they come off as super info-dumpy; like, why are you depending on a pamphlet to build your world? However, in this case I could tell they were included for fun. The world-building conveyed in the stories themselves is already detailed and comprehensive enough; the two guides merely serve to give extra tidbits and context you could find interesting if you’re into the book. So in this case I found myself completely fascinated by the guides, their being even more proof of how much thought Mohamed has put into her unique world.

Rep: Rep: Hijabi Muslim Egyptian MC, nonbinary (?) Muslim Egyptian MC with depression, Muslim Egyptian MC, Egyptian MC with cancer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Grief, Terminal illness, and Child death

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Vomit, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Ableism, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Colonisation, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Racism, Transphobia, War, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Islamophobia, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Major: eye trauma, loss of a loved one (also specifically children) Moderate: sick parent, police corruption, imprisonment, child bride Minor: climate change, colourism, divorce, death of pet

stailysh1's review

emotional 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

This book is beautiful and helps make connections to both modern and timeless events and issues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Violence

lifeinpoetry's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death and Confinement

Minor: Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury