Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

29 reviews

geoalice23's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Som 17-åring gifter sig Nahr med grannens son Mhammad, men äktenskapet blir kort när Mhammad en dag bara försvinner. Nahr sätts på hårda prov när hon måste försörja sin lillebror, mamma och farmor.

Jag har läst Susan Abulhawas tidigare två böcker som jag älskat och denna var inget undantag! Jag älskar Abulhawas språk och hon får mig verkligen att vara närvarande i det jag läser. Det ger mig en mer djupgående insikt i hur livet för palestinier kan vara (och är), oavsett var de bor. Hur det är att ständigt leva i exil, när man har ett ben på flera platser utan att känna sig riktigt hemma på något av dem. Jag uppskattar också att få lära känna så mycket av kulturen: kläder, mat, musik, högtider, familjesammansättningar, seder och bruk. Allt utan att det känns som en info-dump, utan helt integrerat i handlingen.

Jag gillar att Nahr inte är undfallande, att hon har skinn på näsan och är intelligent. Ibland blev jag ändå irriterad på en del av hennes beslut, men det bevisar bara att hon är en komplex människa, precis som många är.

Ett citat från boken som fick mig att tänka till:

"Jag märker att reportrar och författare som kommer hit egentligen inte vill lyssna på mig eller få reda på något om mig, förutom sådant som bekräftar den berättelse de redan tror på."

Detta stämmer in på de flesta människor (även mig), det är därför det är så svårt att få någon att ändra åsikt. Istället för att söka mig till den vanliga nyhetsrapporteringen om den nuvarande konflikten i Palestina/Israel, som oftast är pro-israelisk trots att den ska vara oberoende, så vänder jag mig till andra källor (t ex Amnesty) som jag tycker mer överensstämmer med min egen bild. Rätt eller fel? Finns väl inget enkelt svar där heller...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Colonisation, and Deportation

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

oberon_lapierre's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

An emotionally intense and absolutely beautiful story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Abortion, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, Excrement, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

nineinchnails's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

this was another heartwrenching book from abulhawa. there's something about the way she weaves a story that really draws me in. just like Mornings in Jenin this deals with some very topics, so it was hard to read huge chunks in one sitting. despite being a work of fiction it's very clearly grounded in and inspired by real historical (and current) events so it's hard to "enjoy" this for its story without feeling an immense sense of grief for the countless victims of israel. the main character was initially fairly detached from and unmoved by palestine, and experiencing her (re)discovery of her homeland was incredibly touching. the writing in general was beautiful, and both the setting and the pacing were very intriguing. despite all the horror and trauma the characters find community with one another and i found myself almost forgetting how painful the rest of the book was at parts. 

i particularly enjoy more character driven novels so while i noticed a change in pace later on, i didn't ever feel like it dragged before that point - this might be a slight issue for some readers. i'd recommend this to anyone and everyone but there is a big focus on sexual violence in the first part of this novel, so i think it's worth checking the trigger warnings before you pick this one up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Torture, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, War, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Death of parent

Prostitution/Sex work

alexcribbs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

Really beautiful and heart-breaking and unfortunately relevant. The author paints such vivid landscapes and characters in a way that will make them hard to forget. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Minor: Child death and Torture

tahsintries's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Classism

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 I’m struggling to write this review. Obviously this book is very well-loved, which is in part of why I read it - the other reason why I picked it up is because I wanted to learn more about the Israel-Palestina situation, and it definitely achieved that. But I found myself feeling bored, having to force myself to pick the book back up whenever I had put it down. I am relieved now that it’s finished and get to move on to something else. 

Part of the reason why is the writing style. It is often very matter-of-fact, and filled with a lot of dialogue. I was confused about the timeline, and it was like the narrator was floating above the characters, observing the situation from afar rather than living - and feeling - it, which is weird, because Nahr is our narrator, and she has supposedly lived it all. As a result, I found it hard to distinguish the characters from each other - I had to consciously label them in my head as ‘the brother’, ‘the pimp’, ‘the wife of …’, etc. - and to empathize with them. 

I could sympathize, though, as Nahr obviously lives through very messed up situations. I think this book succeeded in teaching us about Muslim culture and the hardships Palestinians have to endure time and time again, treated as an impostor, even in their own country. It might not have hit me emotionally as much as I had hoped, but I still think people should read it, if only to understand why we should call for a ceasefire. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Death and War

Minor: Child death

issy_jacob's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction and Vomit

chi__'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Deportation

cecereads__'s review against another edition

5.0

This book is full of heart. Of longing, displacement, confinement, tragedy, love, heartbreak, horrors, revolt, strength, emotion, grace, dignity, humanity, inhumanity, honesty, empathy, and I (clearly) could go on.
The story it tells is utterly profound, and I am so grateful to have read it. All the horrors of occupation, oppression, misogyny, murder and injustices included - bc it is the truth.
I was infuriated by the violence and volatile, undignified humiliation tactics and pure evil that Palestinians face.
What a historical, enlightening and powerful tale.
There were maybe two pages that I wanted to move past a bit quicker, but I was completely spellbound by the complexity (simply put) of love and life from the perspective that we are afforded with this novel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and Colonisation