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musicsaves's review against another edition
2.0
FIRST LINE REVIEW: "I was twelve years old, still a kid with fairy-tale dreams and never-ending imaginings." And in the next 190 pages that "kid" passes through all stages of life with the most disconnected rapidity, covering the years with repetition and an almost nauseating amount of absolutisms, like "never-ending." While I appreciated learning about the family culture of Bahrainis, I really wish that Al Shafei had a stronger editor to help her with this story, told with such obvious love for her subject.
amyborch's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spoiler. I’m reading a book from every country in Asia and this one is ideal. It’s about a family from Bahrain who has difficulties. Wedding practices, fears over the Kuwait war, are dealt with. It doesn’t go into the differences bw Bahrain and really any other Islamic country but it’s the best book I e read so far for this project.
vitsa's review against another edition
2.0
Spoiler
I found the writing quite poor but this wasn't the main issue for me. I found the author's attempt to justify the husband's decision to leave his wife and nine children behind to go and get married somewhere else absolutely infuriating. It just made me want to scream every time this was mentioned (which was a lot). I guess a writer with more skill could have made the redemption arc believable but here it just drove me nuts. Having to read Mohammad's POVs as he bemoaned how beautiful his first wife was and felt very sorry for himself, while not doing anything to fix it, just made me want to hit things.rockobeige's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
rhodaj's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
This was my read the world selection for Bahrain.
This book follows the life of Khadeeja who is forced into an arranged marriage at 12 years old to Mohammed, a man several years older than her. While she is pregnant with their ninth child, the seemingly perfect Mohammed abandons his wife and children and disappears without a word and Khadeeja is faced with raising her nine children alone.
Whilst I appreciated the author’s heartfelt writing and clear passion for this story, I was pretty irritated with this book for a number of reasons:
1. The book has not been edited very well and there are many incorrect prepositions used.
2. It seems the author is not clear on what the word “shout” means. Everyone “shouted” at each other....even apparently during polite conversation. I could have ignored both of these points, if not for the further points.
3. Arranged marriages at 12 years old were romanticized. In fact, most things were romanticized. Even the “perfect husband” Mohammed leaving without a word was somehow romanticized. The “excuse” given later for his desertion I thought was pretty weak, however no one in the book (the family) seemed greatly perturbed by it. In fact, it only seemed to somehow add to their romantic notions, which totally baffled me.
4. Everyone in Khadeeja’s immediate family and in particular Khadeeja herself, were “perfect” and “angels”. Men outside of the family circle were all “kind” and “wise”. However all of the women outside the immediate family were “mean”, “manipulative” and were cheating on their husbands. Coming from a female author, I found this very disheartening and disappointing that women were portrayed this way.
5. The bit that made me
This was my read the world selection for Bahrain.
This book follows the life of Khadeeja who is forced into an arranged marriage at 12 years old to Mohammed, a man several years older than her. While she is pregnant with their ninth child, the seemingly perfect Mohammed abandons his wife and children and disappears without a word and Khadeeja is faced with raising her nine children alone.
Whilst I appreciated the author’s heartfelt writing and clear passion for this story, I was pretty irritated with this book for a number of reasons:
1. The book has not been edited very well and there are many incorrect prepositions used.
2. It seems the author is not clear on what the word “shout” means. Everyone “shouted” at each other....even apparently during polite conversation. I could have ignored both of these points, if not for the further points.
3. Arranged marriages at 12 years old were romanticized. In fact, most things were romanticized. Even the “perfect husband” Mohammed leaving without a word was somehow romanticized. The “excuse” given later for his desertion I thought was pretty weak, however no one in the book (the family) seemed greatly perturbed by it. In fact, it only seemed to somehow add to their romantic notions, which totally baffled me.
4. Everyone in Khadeeja’s immediate family and in particular Khadeeja herself, were “perfect” and “angels”. Men outside of the family circle were all “kind” and “wise”. However all of the women outside the immediate family were “mean”, “manipulative” and were cheating on their husbands. Coming from a female author, I found this very disheartening and disappointing that women were portrayed this way.
5. The bit that made me
audreyapproved's review against another edition
2.0
Read around the world project - Bahrain
I feel bad giving this a low rating, especially because it seems partially biographical, but I didn't enjoy my time reading Yummah. When it began with the marriage of a 12 year old, I thought the naïveté of the narration and writing seemed appropriate. As our main character aged, I realized that this voice was inherent to Shafei's writing, and not part of the characterization. I felt like many of the people mentioned (all family members) were painted as "perfect", "angels" and unflawed - yet the "other" women were always adulterous and conniving. The story arc also isn't super engrossing - this basically covers the life of our main character, but that doesn't always translate into appropriate pacing and arc of a storyline.
If you're doing an around the world challenge like I am, it's a quick read and does give a small snapshot into life in Bahrain, but otherwise I'd likely pass.
I feel bad giving this a low rating, especially because it seems partially biographical, but I didn't enjoy my time reading Yummah. When it began with the marriage of a 12 year old, I thought the naïveté of the narration and writing seemed appropriate. As our main character aged, I realized that this voice was inherent to Shafei's writing, and not part of the characterization. I felt like many of the people mentioned (all family members) were painted as "perfect", "angels" and unflawed - yet the "other" women were always adulterous and conniving. The story arc also isn't super engrossing - this basically covers the life of our main character, but that doesn't always translate into appropriate pacing and arc of a storyline.
If you're doing an around the world challenge like I am, it's a quick read and does give a small snapshot into life in Bahrain, but otherwise I'd likely pass.
serendipitysbooks's review
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
Yummah is the story of Khadeeja, a Bahraini woman, following her from the age of twelve through to the end of her life. The opening section was quite affecting. One day Khadeeja was happily playing with her doll, the next she was married. The contrast between the two, her pain at not being allowed to take her doll when she went to see her husband for the first time, really highlighted her sudden shift from child to woman. Against the odds the marriage seemed to have been happy, although there were sorrows including miscarriages and the loss of a son to a scorpion bite. But then one day her husband Mohammed disappeared leaving her with eight, soon to be nine, children to raise.
While this is a perfectly fine story of a woman who overcame the odds and lived a happy life despite being abandoned by her husband it fell a little short for me. It did a lot of telling rather than showing and in some ways seemed more plot driven than character driven. I feel like I never truly knew or understood Khadeeja. I’m not sure if this is a problem with the writing or due to a lack of imagination or cultural understanding on my part. While the story told me what Khadeeja did it all too often failed to take me into her heart and mind. I wanted to share her life rather than merely witnessing it.
While this is a perfectly fine story of a woman who overcame the odds and lived a happy life despite being abandoned by her husband it fell a little short for me. It did a lot of telling rather than showing and in some ways seemed more plot driven than character driven. I feel like I never truly knew or understood Khadeeja. I’m not sure if this is a problem with the writing or due to a lack of imagination or cultural understanding on my part. While the story told me what Khadeeja did it all too often failed to take me into her heart and mind. I wanted to share her life rather than merely witnessing it.
amyjo25's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
pogue's review
4.0
I did not know at what point in time this book took place until a date about half way through the book was mentioned. This book left me with some questions that as a Westerner might be a bit crass but I am just trying to learn.
After the first night with her husband and Khadeeja said she loved him, was that common for an unmet couple to fall in love at first site like that? Or was that unusual?
Was Layla an attempt to hold on to her childhood?
Could or can a man have more than one wife like that, or is there a protocol for this?
After the first night with her husband and Khadeeja said she loved him, was that common for an unmet couple to fall in love at first site like that? Or was that unusual?
Was Layla an attempt to hold on to her childhood?
Could or can a man have more than one wife like that, or is there a protocol for this?
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