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nataliecoyne 's review for:
Behind You Is the Sea
by Susan Muaddi Darraj
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The problem I often encounter with short story collections, even in ones where the stories are connected (like in the case of this book), is there are always stories that I want more of versus ones that I don't connect with as much. For an example of the former, "The Hashtag" was my favorite chapter/story in this book. It kept my attention the most and was a real page-turner. I could read an entire novel about Rania, Yousef, Rasha, Palestinian Athena, and Eddie, and all of the fallout around the situation. But, ultimately, beyond those 22 pages, that was it for them.
The way the chapter connected to the rest of the book was just through their lawyer, Samira. The chapter/story on Samira ("Worry Beads," which was 42 pages) is actually then an example of the latter, meaning a story I didn't connect with as much.
Ultimately, I did enjoy the stories and the book as a whole, and I would recommend it to others. But, my God, I kept wishing we would've come back to Mahfouz family in some way.
The way the chapter connected to the rest of the book was just through their lawyer, Samira. The chapter/story on Samira ("Worry Beads," which was 42 pages) is actually then an example of the latter, meaning a story I didn't connect with as much.
Ultimately, I did enjoy the stories and the book as a whole, and I would recommend it to others. But, my God, I kept wishing we would've come back to Mahfouz family in some way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Torture, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy