Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

34 reviews

tahmida's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism and Vomit

bookishbea's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad tense 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? No

4.75

Great book, but for mature teens. If you want to skip the graphic stuff, then just don't read the grandmother's journal entries. I didn't, and understood the story just fine. Other than the content issues (which really add to the gritty plot) it is an emotional book that is desperate yet hopeful. A truly moving (and harrowing) way of portraying being a lesbian within an unsupportive (downright hateful, actually) family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

A man is murdered (off-page) due to his sexuality.

abigailwantstoread_01's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

rhaase0509's review against another edition

emotional inspiring slow-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? Yes

3.5

This book was a little young for me, as the characters are in high school. It is difficult at times to read the choices they are making when a better alternative seems obvious. However, this is a book about teenagers, and teenagers do not always make good decisions. At one point the main character reads a diary including some intense subject matter that I did not feel like the book did enough to address. The abuse detailed in the diary seemed to be glossed over in favour of the main character's personal development. I do not think such subjects should be handled so lightly. 
Overall, the story was interesting and I enjoyed learning more about Islamic and Bengali culture.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

ldandridge's review against another edition

emotional funny tense 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

4.25

Great characters, wide range of emotions, and excellent depiction of family dynamics and the pull that American children of immigrants often feel (I see it frequently among my high school students). I especially liked the relationships Rukhsana had with her cousin as well as with her younger brother. It's also always fun for me to read books that take place (partially, in this case) in Seattle. My one gripe is that the audiobook reader would say "u double u" instead of the regionally accepted "udub" when referencing UW.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Child abuse and Death

Minor: Alcohol

Lots of references to arranged marriages and in general the parents of the protagonist are very controlling and react very poorly to finding out their daughter is a lesbian. But that's the whole point of the book (

and it has a

happy

ending

) so just make sure you know what you're getting yourself into!

bridgetdeveney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, and Murder

atrkula's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders

siyak_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Vomit

lilatov's review

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was a riiiide. 
Honestly and truly, a lot happens in this book, and some of it was very unexpected (maybe not all needed?). However, it all is beautifully wrapped up by the end. 
There were places where the writing was repetitive in distracting ways. 
Lightly addresses intergenerational trauma.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death

katselvocki's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-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

3.5

The good:

• Queer South Asian rep
• Rukhsana and her brother Aamir’s relationship
• Rukhsana’s relationship with her grandmother
• Rukhsana’s friendships with Irfan and Sohail
• Rukhsana and Ariana’s relationship felt very much like a teenage love story

The less good:

• HOLY HECK this got much darker than I’d anticipated 
• Pacing felt off—things dragged for a bit in the middle, but then wrapped up VERY quickly and rather tidily after the darker plot points
• Not much character development of Ariana or of Rukhsana’s best friends in Seattle
• Rukhsana and Ariana’s relationship felt very much like a teenage love story
• I am very much not over Sohail’s death even though all of the characters seem to be

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Murder