Reviews with content warning for Murder - Φιρντάους

Hmm this is a hard book to review. I really admire the book and the story and Firdaus and yeah just the commentary it's making on society and the value of women. I think it's really powerful. I even like the flowery language and the circular events. I think it's a little daydreamy at times though. Like sometimes I just wanted to skip ahead of the la la la ness of the internal thoughts

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suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

wow. it took me so long to actually read this book throughout the semester, since life got in the way. this is such an amazing book and a powerful exploration into radical feminism, especially stances related to sex and how that skews perceptions of women. in fact, throughout the text you'll see that exact weaving happening— how sex work and the typical narratives of "empowerment" often associated with it holds a perverse and ugly side that speaks to the wider society. words even fail me now to describe everything this book contains. really great and short (yet powerful) read, but dark, so please check trigger warnings!

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dreamwifu's review against another edition

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dark inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

such a compelling narrative to dive into. it is so short and easy to read while also providing a powerful presence of our main character, firdaus. it is very heavy, but if you can handle it, please give it a read.

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Woman at Point Zero is a novel based on a real meeting between the author and Firdaus, a female murderer who was days away from being executed in Egypt. This book is Firdaus’s story. From a young age her life was blighted by exploitation and violence, sexual, physical and emotional, from men, and sometimes women as well - female genital mutilation, an uncle who permitted some education but also sexually abused her, forced marriage to a much older man, gang rape, prostitution and more. Eventually Firdaus had enough and when a pimp pulled a knife on her she stabbed and killed him. Later she tells a wealthy client what she has done and is arrested. I’ll always remember Firdaus, with her unsentimental, matter-of-fact manner, her power and fierceness, her lack of repentance or self-pity. “But with each of the men I ever knew, I was always overcome by a strong desire to lift my arm high up over my head and bring my hand smashing down on his face.”

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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

'you criminal. you deserve to die.'
- 'everybody has to die. i prefer to die from a crime i have committed rather than to die for one of the crimes which you have committed.'

a tale filled with great horrors, pain and truth.
this book was very special, something i've never read before, and wise in an unconventional type of way.
i liked the story in its simple complexity, but the pacing threw me off quite frequently. the storyline and structure were sort of jumpy and the lifeless ease with which the events were described took away most of the impact.

an important story, but the writing style was not for me.

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