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notesofacrocodile 's review for:
You Exist Too Much
by Zaina Arafat
this novel gives us the gift of the perspective of a bisexual palestinian, who is also a second-generation immigrant in the united states. we see her complicated relationship with her mother, her personal experiences as a palestinian, her bisexuality, her struggles with exploring healthy intimacy in her romantic relationships, and various intersectionalities.
i wasn't very onboard with the writing in the first half of the book and was considering leaving it with a two-star rating, but then the writing picked up in the second half and became a little more appealing to me. there is no plot as such, and the storyline veers between the past and present and various points in between often, but it didn't leave me confused or disoriented, i was still able to follow the story. the healing process of our protagonist is a long, bumpy road, and while this may put off some readers, i personally thought that this was quite realistic. my favourite theme in this novel was the difficult relationship between the immigrant mother and daughter, especially when the mother has felt like a big portion of their life was wasted away, hence leading to destructive resentment and rage. all in all, this story is still a commendable debut.
i wasn't very onboard with the writing in the first half of the book and was considering leaving it with a two-star rating, but then the writing picked up in the second half and became a little more appealing to me. there is no plot as such, and the storyline veers between the past and present and various points in between often, but it didn't leave me confused or disoriented, i was still able to follow the story. the healing process of our protagonist is a long, bumpy road, and while this may put off some readers, i personally thought that this was quite realistic. my favourite theme in this novel was the difficult relationship between the immigrant mother and daughter, especially when the mother has felt like a big portion of their life was wasted away, hence leading to destructive resentment and rage. all in all, this story is still a commendable debut.