Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

48 reviews

carissa230's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

5.0

Nahr is locked up in solitary confinement. There is nothing to do so she reflects on her life and how she ended up where she was in life. 

Born in Kuwait to Palestinian refugees she dreams of the day she will meet the man that she will marry, settle down, and make a family. She marries the man she thinks is of her dreams, but it is not to be. It's pretty clear she is not the gender he prefers. He leaves in the middle of the night and she is left penniless and jobless. 

Nahr meets a woman that "helps women". Turns out she helps them to sell their bodies to men in order to make them all money. That is how Nahr finds herself making money for herself and her family. 

Nahr can't live this lifestyle for long. Her family is forced to flee Kuwait and she joins the resistance. She finally finds the love she always wanted, but as we already know she's in prison so it's not happily ever after. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and War

mybestfriendisabook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

was hooked immediately!! i was doubtful if i would like it looking at the first page but it had an intriguing start with the MC which told me this character was going to be interesting. i loved how easy, smooth, and digestible it was to read - these are my favorites. i finished in 2 days, was reading until i couldn’t stay awake anymore. i would love a second book that continued the story but now i see why it’s not necessary as the ending showed the reality of her life.

touches on the occupation, resistance, romance, friendship, family, patriarchy, grief, and, undoubtedly, much more. had some really great quotes. learned more about the occupation of Palestine. 

i loved how bold the MC was and the life she lived. it made for a very interesting journey. idk why this is marked as slow-paced, it’s definitely medium and maybe even fast! (edit: submitted ticket to change to medium-paced) i found myself referring to the glossary often when needed, it’s interesting to learn. lots of stuff packed in made it worthwhile. 

the physical book format also helped in the smoothness - good page feel and font styling. love the cover too

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Abortion

aschmitttyy's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This one was hard for me to get through. I felt connected to the characters and I wanted to see what happened to them, but there were so many different parts to the story that I feel like I lost some of that emotion.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Minor: Grief, Abortion, War, and Deportation

malin_banalin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Spännande och rörande. Det händer så mycket i boken, känns som en hel livstid man får gå igenom och det är det ju typ också! Frihet och förtryck. Tycker om titeln (som framgår i boken är från en text av James Baldwin) och det poetiska i Abulhawas sätt att skriva. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

brynalexa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

A powerful journey. Perfectly paced and gripping. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, and Dementia

michelle_my_belle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book was so beautifully written. It was historical fiction that also felt so relevant to today. It helped me understand more about the Palestinian history and experience. Nahr's story is so raw and heartbreaking and her strength and resistance was moving. The author uses such powerful imagery and explores the complexities of people in creating characters with so much depth. Most of the time, making them neither good, nor bad, simple human. I will probably be thinking about this book for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Cancer

jiimjam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? Yes

4.75

This is a great story with beautiful deep characters. Everyone has flaws but they care so much for each other and work out issues. 

Being an American on the other side of the world, I am far away from the issues discussed in this book, it can feel like another world entirely. Though this is a fictional story, there are very real stories of people who have experienced the torture, heartache, and displacement from their homes and families that are spoken of in this book. It was an eye-opening read and part of a personal journey to listen to different voices. 

Quotes

"When powerless, following world events only highlights your impotence."

 "What’s it like to be a whale? To live in water. To be the biggest creature on earth, still vulnerable to a small man’s greed."

"...cruelty always has a dick."

"...happiness can reach such depths that it becomes something akin to grief."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and War

havdic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

raisinreads's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

amandahajj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

My quest to absorb as much knowledge as I can of Palestinian history and current events has taken up the better part of my brain in recent months. I’ve spent many hours researching the work of Middle East scholars, watching documentaries, and tracking the news. Yet reading this novel took me a while to finish. Somehow it felt more laborious than the hours of research I’ve committed.

I’m so glad I finally read this book though. What an epic tale of displacement, grief, trauma, resilience, and love. Filled with cultural quirks that resonated deeply, gut-wrenching passages, and ample of heart-warming passages too, I found myself more and more compelled to read as it went on.

I love that this read embraces our messiness as humans and allows readers to grapple with the greater forces that move them and move around them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Abortion