Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

4 reviews

emzhay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Rape, and War

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

I was blown away by this book - in good ways and in devastating ways. I had to put this down for days at a time to recover from what I was reading. It was beautiful writing, but often too sad for me to read too much of it in one sitting. The story is told from Ijeoma's POV, and her voice is so strong throughout the book that it was almost like I could hear her voice in my head as clearly as if I were listening to someone tell me a story right in front of me. The themes found throughout were powerful, and the use of nigerian folktales within the narrative was such a wonderful touch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Child death, Child abuse, Gore, Suicide, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, Murder, Grief, Rape, Body horror, Hate crime, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child death, Classism, and Infidelity

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Vomit

laurareads87's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

5.0

Under the Udala Trees is an extraordinary novel spanning decades -- from the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s to the 1990s -- following Ijeoma, who grows from a young girl to an adult over the course of the book.  From a young age and through her school years, Ijeoma finds herself attracted to her female friend in a country where same-sex relationships are not accepted.  The novel explores the ways that Ijeoma is pushed into conforming to heteronormative expectations -- including marrying a man -- not only by her mother, who tries to pray her sexuality away, but by her own self-doubts, fears, and internal struggles.  At the same time, the book explores ethnic and class dynamics, women's roles, generational tensions, and the struggles of articulating one's identity so thoughtfully, and incorporates intertextual references and multiple languages so well.  Beautifully written, Under the Udala Trees will stay with me a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Death, Grief, Rape, Death of parent, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Ableism and Miscarriage

Minor: Islamophobia

fruya's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, and Child abuse