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A review by atyab
Guapa by Saleem Haddad
3.0
3.5/5
Overall, the book was somewhat enjoyable to read. It is really not a deep foray into the life of a gay middle eastern, as the reviews on the cover would suggest. Any introspections and observations are repeated so much that they are diluted into having no meaning or they are encompassed in so much unnecessary detail that they go amiss. The story is enjoyable but stagnant which makes it feel too long and repetitive.
this book was very interesting, to say the least.
Firstly, the synopsis says '24hrs in the life of' but the whole middle section is his life during college like bffr rn. I didn't mind reading that section but just wasn't what I was expecting from the book.
One perturbation that I had with the book was that it was quite repetitive, which I really didn't enjoy. There was a quite a lot of 'telling' of the same points continuously, instead of 'showing', which got quite boring and annoying whilst reading. This made me think parts of this book could've been chopped off to make it shorter because it weighs in at approx 350 pages and atleast 50 pages could've been taken off. It was like the writer knew what his book was going to be about but didn't know how to create a story so just kept writing his original themes in so many different ways. Also, the main character has no development in his thought process for much of the book, which is what makes it feel so repetitive, as he constantly reflects on the same principles over and over.
I did enjoy reading about this and the story flowed quite well. I took gaps in-between my reading sessions but always returned and never put it down, which is always a good sign. The writing was good too. Nothing exceptional but it was enjoyable.
Another review said that the ending randomly derailed and I totally agree. Where the hell did this random plot device come from in the last 20 pages that we had absolutely no mention of throughout the whole book? Made the ending feel really rushed and just left me dissatisfied. I really hate when authors do this and bring something out from left field that is crucial to the plot that you have no idea about
The semi plot twist I actually quite enjoyed. I didn't expect that much. And that whole scene was really well written. I felt very anxious as the tension built and was very on edge to see what would happen. Had to remind myself it was a book and there was nothing I could do to change it cause woahhhhh nelly I was stressing.
Overall, the book was somewhat enjoyable to read. It is really not a deep foray into the life of a gay middle eastern, as the reviews on the cover would suggest. Any introspections and observations are repeated so much that they are diluted into having no meaning or they are encompassed in so much unnecessary detail that they go amiss. The story is enjoyable but stagnant which makes it feel too long and repetitive.
this book was very interesting, to say the least.
Firstly, the synopsis says '24hrs in the life of' but the whole middle section is his life during college like bffr rn. I didn't mind reading that section but just wasn't what I was expecting from the book.
One perturbation that I had with the book was that it was quite repetitive, which I really didn't enjoy. There was a quite a lot of 'telling' of the same points continuously, instead of 'showing', which got quite boring and annoying whilst reading. This made me think parts of this book could've been chopped off to make it shorter because it weighs in at approx 350 pages and atleast 50 pages could've been taken off. It was like the writer knew what his book was going to be about but didn't know how to create a story so just kept writing his original themes in so many different ways. Also, the main character has no development in his thought process for much of the book, which is what makes it feel so repetitive, as he constantly reflects on the same principles over and over.
I did enjoy reading about this and the story flowed quite well. I took gaps in-between my reading sessions but always returned and never put it down, which is always a good sign. The writing was good too. Nothing exceptional but it was enjoyable.
Another review said that the ending randomly derailed and I totally agree. Where the hell did this random plot device come from in the last 20 pages that we had absolutely no mention of throughout the whole book? Made the ending feel really rushed and just left me dissatisfied. I really hate when authors do this and bring something out from left field that is crucial to the plot that you have no idea about
The semi plot twist I actually quite enjoyed. I didn't expect that much. And that whole scene was really well written. I felt very anxious as the tension built and was very on edge to see what would happen. Had to remind myself it was a book and there was nothing I could do to change it cause woahhhhh nelly I was stressing.