Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

11 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

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.

skb163's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I wasn't sure how to feel about this book when I first started reading. It took me a while to finish it. I found myself wanting to know what happened next in Nahr's life. I learned much from this book. This book a heavy and beautifully written. It is sad but fills you with hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Abortion, and Alcohol

lizziaha's review against another edition

4.25

This is a story that spans years, and yet feels like only a very small part of the overall story. It reads like a memoir, and I honestly had a hard time reading it. It was hard to wrestle with how my opinions and pre-conceived notions occasionally differed from Nahr’s. And it was difficult to witness such human suffering. My brain kept trying to negate the seriousness of the events of this book because they are fictional, so I had to keep reminding myself to Palestinians face this and more at the hands of Israel. It made reading this book a very involved process for me. Which is why I think it is a book that is essential to the canon, and should be read and studied more widely. The characters all felt very complex and flawed, and abulhawa gave them space for that. There were some moments of real beauty and lyricism in the written word. Particularly in depictions of the Palestinian culture and people. From the river to the sea 🇵🇸

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Ableism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

shieldbearer's review against another edition

This book was beautifully written but it didn't grab me the way "Mornings in Jenin" did. There is a lot of heavy, nuanced plotting here, but there are also several ways the plotting falls short, When looked at as a work of fiction, this simply does not do it for me. Part of it is that I can't get invested in the romance. A similar work that I preferred a lot is "Minor Detail"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Infertility, Antisemitism, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Outing

vanessamariebooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative sad 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

Favorite of the year. Highly recommend, especially for bookclubs or High School English classes. My thoughts here: https://www.youtube.com/live/jHkbo3kEbbg?si=AQwDiPhqLPCpTQey

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Ableism, Dementia, Outing, and Cultural appropriation

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

dragongirl271's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

“To survive by loving each other means to love our ancestors too. To know their pain, struggles, and joys. It means to love our collective memory, who we are, where we come from.”
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

This book is phenomenal. It's absolutely fantastic in so many ways and I've been putting off this review for over a week because I simply cannot come up with the words that can do it justice.

This is the fictional story of Nahr, a Palestinian woman imprisoned by Israel for her part in the resistance against Israeli settlers. She's in a solitary confinement cell called The Cube with her only human interaction being guards and reporters. After finally getting access to pen and paper, she spends her time writing out her life story, which are the narrative flashbacks that make up the book.

Nahr's tale is one of love, loss, desperation, resiliency, radicalization, resistance, and survival. Her story and her relationships are complicated and messy. An entire book could be written just analyzing her relationship to Um Baraq, who throughout the book plays villain and best friend and savior and confidante. There's quite a few full-circle moments in her relationships that just elevate the storytelling of the novel. Abulhawa is so good at working out all the complexities in a character that make them feel so real and human. I've thought about this book every day since I first started reading it and, were it not for the #JanuaryPagesChallenge, probably would've taken a week or two off from even attempting to read another book to simply just let it sit with me.

1st-person POV. Mixed pacing. Two timelines with the majority of the narrative in the flashbacks leading up to present day. A complicated journey of resisting oppression in many different ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jess_lynn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Trafficking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Miscarriage and War

samdalefox's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.0

This was on my to-read list for a while, and now felt the right time to read it (October-November 2023) as the genocide is underway. It feels like one more small (indirect) action of solidarity I can do, to understand the personal lives of Palestinians. The story follows protagonist, young Palestinian woman Nahr, and how her life unfolds being displaced, discriminated againist, exploited, and punished for pursuing resistance against Israel. It is a finctional story made up of various peoples' real-life experiences. As such, the story feels very realistic, which makes the violence even more horrible. 

This was a glorious and heart wrenching scream of Palestinian identity. Nahr is a woman of many names and many countries.  The narrative showcases the challenges faced by the Palestinian people while emphasizing their remarkable resilience, demonstrating their capacity to find hope and joy amidst heartbreak and injustice. It is an ordinary tale that showcases the extraordinary spirit of Palestinian people. Tough to get through (see content warnings), but a great way to get people to recognise Palestinians as wonderful, complex, oppressed people who need our solidarity and support.


Favourite quotes

"I find that reporters and writers that come here don't actually want to listen to me or hear my thoughts, except where I might validate what they already believe" .

"I had not known the extent of our subordination until I knew what it meant to be respected."

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

 "I should have said it again, that her embroidery was more special than any desk job could be, that she was an artist, that western images of professional women don't have to apply to us, that concepts of respectability and modernity or manufactured".

"The ceaseless accumulation of injustice made me want to fight the world" 

"Can something expected still be surprising?" 

 "The belonging and acceptance I had found was an illusion." 

 "I colonised the colonisers' space of authority. I made myself free in chains and held that courtroom captive to my freedom." 

 "The state will always find a way to imprison those who are truly free. Who do not accept social, economic, or political chains." 

"You must accept them and accept them with love, for these innocent people have no other hope. They are in effect still trapped in a history which they do not understand and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it." - James Baldwin

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, and Murder

The protagonist does sex work for a while, which carries the usual increased risk of harms listed above.