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laurao's review
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Police brutality, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pregnancy
The content warnings are all relevant to the story either as part of history or part of culture.cecereads__'s review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol
whatannikareads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
good stuff:
- the descriptions of uganda, especially in hasan's letters were gorgeous! i wish the book was overall written in the style of hasan's letters
- the novel tackled a lot of different cultures, relationships, and history, so it kept me hooked wanting to figure out what happened next
- the alternating storylines of the letters from the 20th century to Sameer's present day life was an interesting concept; it felt like it was all coming down to one point, the climax that would reveal how these two were intertwined
- i'm not religious, but the descriptions of sameer's reignited faith was very beautiful and hopeful. it was refreshing to read about practicing muslim in a positive light
not so good stuff:
- because hasan's letters were so beautifully written, i was confused why sameer's narrative style was so different. his chapters were so tell not show. i understand he's like a 20-30 something year old straight man, so i guess it's meant to reflect that?
- that being said, hasan's letters also didn't feel realistically written, as in one would not write a love letter 10 pages long with descriptions of miniscule actions, but that's one of the smaller bones to pick
- sameer and maryam's romance did feel a bit underdeveloped and rushed
- also i had a problem/was confused with sameer's fixation on black people's skin color? like idk why the author chose to describe characters' skin like that...sameer wants to shame his grandfather for racist remarks but he's talking about how shiny and nice his black friend's skin is??? i was just really confused
- the ending was so abrupt, i literally turned the page and was like, "...that's it?" i don't necessarilly have a problem with open endings but it just felt so jolted and the pacing was interrupted
overall i would read another one of this author's works! it's a really impressive piece of fiction for a debut novel.
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Deportation
qqjj's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
littlebluebike's review
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
sunflowersinta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Hate crime
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent
rebeccafarren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Ableism