A review by micareads123
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

This book follows an unnamed Palestinian-American woman who is struggling with and being treated for love addiction. As the narrative shifts back and forth between the narrator’s present — at the treatment centre  — and her past, we see how all of her self-destructive behaviours and messy and complicated relationships with past partners and, most importantly, her mother, relate back to her childhood. 

The author really demonstrates the impact of a person’s upbringing and of generational trauma in the pages of this book, and she sprinkles impactful messaging about life in Palestine throughout.