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tamara_mousa's reviews
145 reviews
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Kit Anderson captivatingly portrayed the life, culture, and customs of Kurdish people and their resistance against the Turks in her novel Five Sisters: A Modern Novel of Kurdish Women. It is the story of 5 sisters, who are part of 14-memebr family, fighting for family, homeland, one’s freedom, and love. This book described the nature, customs of death and wedding celebrations, and the unjust treatment that the Kurds have received from the Turkish and Iraqi governments as they were discriminated and murdered! This novel also highlighted honor killings, and the lack of women’s ability in having their simplest rights including education and choosing whom to marry. A complete summary is available in my blog:
Www.tamarayousefmousa.com
Www.tamarayousefmousa.com
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh جلجامش - ملحمة الرافدين الخالدة by Firas Al-Sawwah is about Gilgamesh (2/3 god and 1/3 human) killing the evil monster Humbaba with his friend Enkidu. The theme of this legend stresses on that humans are not immortals, and that human works (cities, monuments, art, books, poems, …) are the only things that remain after we die - a witness that we lived. This epic also highlights that we should gain wisdom via living and travelling, as well as enjoy living our life since we are mortals
Acomplete summary is in my blog:
www.tamarayousefmousa.com
www.tamarayousefmousa.com
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Gaucho Martín Fierro and The Return of Martin Fierro by José Hernández translated by Abeer Abed Hafez - ملحمة الجاوتشو – مارتين فييرو وعودة مارتين فييرو لخوسيه إرنانديث وترجمة عبير حافظ نعمةis an epic about the difficult life of the Gaucho Martin. The Gaucho are a group of people who are believed to come from the Middle East and reside in Latin America during the invasion of that Continent, and how the settlers abused the land and the Natives as well as the Gaucho. On the other hand, the Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh جلجامش - ملحمة الرافدين الخالدة by Firas Al-Sawwah is about Gilgamesh (2/3 god and 1/3 human) killing the evil monster Humbaba with his friend Enkidu. The theme of this legend stresses on that humans are not immortals, and that human works (cities, monuments, art, books, poems, …) are the only things that remain after we die - a witness that we lived. This epic also highlights that we should gain wisdom via living and travelling, as well as enjoy living our life since we are mortals
Fullreview available in my blog:
www.tamarayousefmousa.com
www.tamarayousefmousa.com
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
In There Are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak shed light on the life of Yazidis, and the unjust and racist treatment that they endured from Arabs and Westerners, as well as Christians and Muslims. The events of this story occurred between and 1840 and 2018, describing the life of the destitute British scholar Arthur who was interested in Gilgamesh stone tablets, Levantine British Zaleekhah, and the Yazidi Narin and her grandma. These 3 characters and king Ashurbanipal were linked by one drop of water that either was a snowflake, tear, baptism water drop, or raindrop, respectively. The book also highlighted the era of Ashurbanipal, looting artifacts from the Arab land to be displayed in European/American museums, as well as destroying heritage lands and wiping a 12,000-year history because of being powerful!
A complete summary of the 1st part is available in my blog:
https://www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
A complete summary of the 1st part is available in my blog:
https://www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Trevor Noah narrated in his memoir, Born a Crime, stories about his life in South Africa, the apartheid, racism, and the horrible abuse of Africans and the treasures of their land by the White conqueror. He also depicted how the colonizers segregated Africans and forcefully moved them to arid areas, giving them only 13% of their own country! The White conquerors also changed the identity of South Africa by renaming the cities after White people as they did in the US, and forced their religion (Christianity) on Africans. Trevor highlighted his mom’s role in making him a good man and becoming who he is today by teaching him how to think and be independent! Finally, Trevor’s life lesson was not regretting the things he did but regretting the things he didn’t do!
A complete summary is available in my blog:
Www.tamarayousefmousa.com
A complete summary is available in my blog:
Www.tamarayousefmousa.com
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Abdulrazak Gurnah shed light on the life in Tanzania during and the British rule, Zanzibar Revolution in 1963, and dictatorships as portrayed in Salim’s life. Gravel Heart described the shattered childhood of Salim in Zanzibar, and his adulthood in London and Brighton where he tried to find himself while obtaining his BSc in Literature. Gurnah also painted a perfect image of dictatorships, and how authoritarians abuse their position to get what they want, stay powerful, and transfer authority and position to their second generation by keeping the citizens helpless. The novel also shed light on abusing the love of a family member as depicted in Amir, the irresponsible selfish man who abused his sister’s love and gave her up just to save himself and climb onto the ladder of power like a parasite.
A complete summary is available in my blog:
www.tamarayousefmousa.com
A complete summary is available in my blog:
www.tamarayousefmousa.com
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Argita and Detina Zalli captivatingly narrated the adventure of their family to leave Albania after its collapse, and the harsh immigration journey across Europe to become refugees in England between 1997 and 2004, when they were teenagers in their book Good Morning Hope. This true story is about hope, self-confidence, maturity, family love, and traumas due to exposure to violence in Albania, physical and verbal abuse in England.
A complete summary is available in my blog:
www.tamarayousefmousa.com
A complete summary is available in my blog:
www.tamarayousefmousa.com
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Mountains Sing is a thrilling saga that Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai wrote about rebelling against tyranny and the wrongdoings that scarred her family between 1942 and 1980. This enthralling novel described the end of the French rule (1857-1945), break out of WWII and the Japanese invasion to ViệtNam (1940-1945), followed by the ViệtNam War (1955-1975) that involved the American intrusion to assist the South of the country to fight communism in the North (1964-1973). Yet, the North won and formed the communist government, which punished everyone who assisted the southern Vietnamese by enforcing land reform, confiscating businesses, and sending Vietnamese to 2-year re-education labor camps. This resulted in brutally murdering and prosecuting landowners and southern empathizers, forcing many of these families to move from Saigon (southern of ViệtNam) to Hà Nội (northern of ViệtNam) or immigrate to the US. A complete summary is available in my blog: www.tamarayousefmousa.com
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith is a fuzzy novel that I thought described the rebellion of Vietnamese against the French occupation that lasted over 80 years (1857-1945). Yet the book was about the transition of Binh’s spirit after being murdered by her childhood friend, which occurred at the end of the French occupation, to two girls: Ma’s daughter (1981) and the American-Vietnamese Winnie (2010/2011). The story described heartless abusive parents, friendship, betrayal, revenge of abused or murdered souls, and the difficulty of living in a strange land as well as being accepted by its people. A complete summary is available in my blog: www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Lana Bastašić charmingly narrated Catch the Rabbit to highlight the life of Yugoslavians in Bosnia during the war with Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. After 12 years of leaving Bosnia to Ireland, Sara received a sudden phone call from her school friend, Lejla, who shut Sara off during college. Lejla asked Sara to meet her in Mostar (in Bosnia and Herzegovina) and take her to Vienna to find her brother, Armin who was lost during the war. It is a story about the life of children during wars and the associated traumas, friendship, betrayal, memories, and fulfillment of a promise.
A complete summary is available in my blog: www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
A complete summary is available in my blog: www.tamarayousefmousa.com/