Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

8 reviews

crybabybea's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Torture, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Racism, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, and War

ka_cam's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Ooph, an intense read. Nahr’s rage and numbness at the violence she experiences and witnesses are at time visceral in this reflective navigation of a Palestinian woman in Istraeli solitary confinement reflecting on her life in Kuwait, Jordan, and Palestine. Doesn’t shy away from sexual, structural, and interpersonal violence so please mind the content warnings. I felt the Palestinian characters could have been a bit less rosy/more complex, but with the narrator’s shifting mental state what lacks in the story can be excused for the narrator. Compellingly and sometimes beautifully written esp for such heavy subjects. Highly, highly recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Genocide, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: War and Abortion

Minor: Child death, Medical content, Racial slurs, Cancer, Ableism, Addiction, and Animal death

rachelsbookishlife's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Sexual harassment, War, Physical abuse, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Abortion, Death of parent, Cancer, and Death

Minor: Drug use

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

against the loveless world tells an important, often silenced story, and is one that's fortunately told well, much to all our benefit. it's a sprawling story of a palestinian woman and refugee, and a moving tale abt palestine and its courageous resistance, all brimming w/ love and empathy.

i like how the novel chronicles the personal, individual story - that of the main character nahr, specifically - in a way that nevertheless relays the bigger tale of palestine and its culture. nahr goes thru a lot of ups and downs, her incredibly difficult decisions shaped by larger political forces out of desperation for survival. her growth from a naive teenage girl, to a woman free of shame or care for social conventions, to a hardened political prisoner is a tumultuous one that im sure is similar to those of many palestinian refugees'. i also rly like her relationship w/ bilal, who's almost unrealistically understanding and loving, and the ending gives me much hope.

what touches me most abt this book, however, is the love so clearly seen and felt it has for palestine and its ppl. my fav scenes are those in palestine, particularly ones that take place in and around hajjeh um mhammad and bilal's home: the serene, expansive nature; the sense of community from everyone coming tgt for harvests, celebrations, homecomings; the culture lovingly relayed thru food, cooking, customs. despite the ever encroaching israeli settlements and violent political + military forces, palestinians survive and persist both above- and underground, finding joy in the small things, their love for their community and country ever present even in the face of outrageous injustice and hatred from both israel and the world that simply looks on.

i'd say that the novel's major weakness is the political activities by bilal and co, esp pertaining to the underground city. the covert activities occur thruout the second half in stops and starts, w/ too lil action imo for the amount of prep taken. the underground resistance always lurks on the fringes, and is perhaps a very fitting symbolism, but nahr's connection to it is too obscure for me personally. the last showdown also seems an uncharacteristic misstep on bilal's part esp considering not only the high stakes but his personal stakes in it all, and im still a lil confused at the timing and why it went down like that.

nevertheless, this is an important story - not only bc it's a voice from an oft silenced group of ppl whos been facing continuous oppression and colonization, but also as a story on its own. told from a fierce narrator who's inspiring in her no-fvcks-given ways, the novel brims w/ love for its community, culture and country, and would hopefully spur many of its readers into action, like it did me. last but not least, fvck israel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, War, Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, Racism, Misogyny, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, Death, Infidelity, Abortion, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Child death

oyveyori's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, Torture, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, War, Sexual harassment, Rape, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Death, and Colonisation

sirissacgluten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, War, Colonisation, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Islamophobia, Abortion, and Sexism

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Vomit, Alcohol, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Torture, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, and Medical trauma

books_coffee_n_red_wine's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

There is no better review than the one on the back of my edition “Reads like a riot act against oppression, misogyny, and shame” - Fatima Bhutto. A phenomenal book that will follow me forever. As an Irish person I am well aware of the Palestinian struggle but this book has allowed me to explore that struggle with a deep and profound focus on how life continues to struggle on despite all else especially in regards to women and how they live under such oppression. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, Sexual violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Antisemitism, War, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Police brutality, and Misogyny

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, and Outing

fromjuliereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

This book was such an emotional rollercoaster and such a difficult read. But wow. It was so incredible, raw, graphic, hopeful. I found it to be incredibly difficult and sad to read at the beginning through so many of Nahr's experiences. As the story goes on, there is more and more hope. 

I think it was a hard read because you know even though this is fiction, there are people with stories like this, people like other characters in the book. 
Definitely recommend but check the trigger warnings. 

I will admit that it has a slower start and I struggled with the pacing and the plot at the beginning, just with it being such graphic and difficult experiences written for a long portion. But as the story evolved and broadened it made more sense why it started out that way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Outing

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Vomit