Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

31 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

autumn33344's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Colonisation

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Torture, and War

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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

thehomiemona's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Trafficking, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Death

Minor: Racial slurs and Death of parent

tatyanareadsbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

a beautiful recalling of a palestinian womans life before she was put into an israeli solitary confinement cell. we watch her go from an immature bride, a severely traumatized sex-worker who worked to send her brother to college, to coming back to palestine and learning what it's like to love and to be loved again while resisting the israeli occupation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, and War

katieocakes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Abortion, Colonisation, War, and Deportation

illustrativemisfit's review against another edition

Too heavy for me for it being a novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Well written. Great storytelling. maybe if i was in a better place mentally i could have finished it.

vanessacorwin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Infertility, Sexual assault, Excrement, Trafficking, and Abortion

madelinedalton's review against another edition

I wanted to love this and tried to trudge through for over a week, but in the end, I just couldn’t do it. I found myself constantly skimming pages, which isn’t a great sign. 

My main criticism of the book is that the characters feel very hollow. I don’t feel like I have a great sense of who they are as people—they are vessels to carry the plot and political turmoil along, and the plot itself is quite slow. 

To be completely fair to the author, I have been in a reading slump for months and don’t have the mental capacity for books about heavy, complex topics like this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Trafficking, and Colonisation

Minor: Fatphobia and Antisemitism

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