Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

29 reviews

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

issy_jacob's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction and Vomit

kjofalltrades's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Abortion

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Infertility, Torture, Excrement, Medical content, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Infidelity, and Vomit

katialena's review

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hannahheislr's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Deportation

schlady's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

A painful, haunting, beautifully-written story of a Palestinian refugee woman's loss, suffering, and heartbreak alongside her strength, resistance, and love. The pace of the book is a steady balance of slow and medium throughout, with lyrical passages of devastating events and details sprinkled with moments of joy and hope. This memoir is technically a work of fiction yet it is very much real and historical, a history of brutal settler colonialism that continues into today. This novel is an important book, one that fights back while dancing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol

cosycorvid's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

samdalefox's review

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.

eeriekeri's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Abortion, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Murder

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