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bookishflaneur's reviews
232 reviews
Nevada by Imogen Binnie
adventurous
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
nevada was a really strongly written characterisation of a trans experience that was difficult to put down. it studies different aspects of transitioning and living a trans life and what comes before with so much nuance from the extremely specific perspective of a thirty-something trans woman living in new york. it’s sort of advertised as a road trip novel but it’s really about how we travel in circles until eventually those circle become spirals and we are sort of climbing through life although it feels like we keep returning to mistakes and low points.
i think the blurb was misleading. there’s so much reflection in this book, so much this is something that went wrong and i realise that but how the fuck do i fix it and i really appreciated how real it was. the main character and the secondary characters were extremely fleshed out but i think that the author was trying to show with the ending that not every story has a happy ending or a resolution, and i think while that was good in hindsight there might have been some reflection on this. overall a really interesting read and an insight to what it was like growing up trans in earlier decades than the one we live in now.
this book definitely made me feel uncomfortable a lot and i think that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. it doesn’t shy away from the language of the time or certain cultural norms that have definitely changed over time.
i think the blurb was misleading. there’s so much reflection in this book, so much this is something that went wrong and i realise that but how the fuck do i fix it and i really appreciated how real it was. the main character and the secondary characters were extremely fleshed out but i think that the author was trying to show with the ending that not every story has a happy ending or a resolution, and i think while that was good in hindsight there might have been some reflection on this. overall a really interesting read and an insight to what it was like growing up trans in earlier decades than the one we live in now.
this book definitely made me feel uncomfortable a lot and i think that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. it doesn’t shy away from the language of the time or certain cultural norms that have definitely changed over time.
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
‘she has always known first what i have yet to discover, has always seen it before i could.
look at me, i wanted to say to her then. please don’t look away.’
‘maybe one day you’ll learn you can’t treat people with such disregard. even yourself.’
when i reached the part of you exist too much from which the title comes, there was a genuine and sudden ache in my heart.
you exist too much is a coming of age story that follows a young palestinian woman as she grows into adulthood. it deals with the topic of codependency and setting boundaries with the mother that raised you, learning to recognise how to have healthy familial relationships. it comments on israel/palestine and a lot of the history of the middle east. it also talks about settling as a young adult and forging relationships, both platonic and romantic, in adult life.
arafat captures what it means to be in the liminal space between cultures through the main character, who feels her arab identity as such a large part of her yet struggles to fit into some aspects of the culture and expectations. as the main character learns about herself, she also reflects on how her mother’s traumatic youth impacted her profoundly, despite her current status and seeming power. the book flits around the topic of religion and the stigma around queer people in the middle east but recognises that homophobia is something that is rooted in people rather than religion and is something that can be unlearnt.
as the unnamed main character grows up, she deals with a destructive search for love as she learns what is healthy. she finds herself keeping distant from long term partners and obsessing over unattainable almost strangers, a ‘love addiction’ that leads to her struggling with disordered eating and other destructive habits. the book deals with her trying to learn to find healthy love, but the journey is realistic, frustrating and painful to read. i thoroughly enjoyed the writing style - it’s not lyrical nor overly simplistic but is reflective and honest and unfiltered - the book almost reads like a memoir. overall i would highly recommend the book as a queer coming of age, as a book about identity and race, as a book about healing.
look at me, i wanted to say to her then. please don’t look away.’
‘maybe one day you’ll learn you can’t treat people with such disregard. even yourself.’
when i reached the part of you exist too much from which the title comes, there was a genuine and sudden ache in my heart.
you exist too much is a coming of age story that follows a young palestinian woman as she grows into adulthood. it deals with the topic of codependency and setting boundaries with the mother that raised you, learning to recognise how to have healthy familial relationships. it comments on israel/palestine and a lot of the history of the middle east. it also talks about settling as a young adult and forging relationships, both platonic and romantic, in adult life.
arafat captures what it means to be in the liminal space between cultures through the main character, who feels her arab identity as such a large part of her yet struggles to fit into some aspects of the culture and expectations. as the main character learns about herself, she also reflects on how her mother’s traumatic youth impacted her profoundly, despite her current status and seeming power. the book flits around the topic of religion and the stigma around queer people in the middle east but recognises that homophobia is something that is rooted in people rather than religion and is something that can be unlearnt.
as the unnamed main character grows up, she deals with a destructive search for love as she learns what is healthy. she finds herself keeping distant from long term partners and obsessing over unattainable almost strangers, a ‘love addiction’ that leads to her struggling with disordered eating and other destructive habits. the book deals with her trying to learn to find healthy love, but the journey is realistic, frustrating and painful to read. i thoroughly enjoyed the writing style - it’s not lyrical nor overly simplistic but is reflective and honest and unfiltered - the book almost reads like a memoir. overall i would highly recommend the book as a queer coming of age, as a book about identity and race, as a book about healing.