Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

39 reviews

alishamegan's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I learnt a lot and I am better for having read this book. The middle was a bit slow but I really liked the facts and history and culture and geography melded into a fictional story of a Palestinian woman. The MC is freaking awesome tbh. A whole new world opened up for me in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, War, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Violence, and Xenophobia

katiechasingchapters's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, War, Colonisation, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion, Violence, and Torture

Minor: Miscarriage

waybeyondblue's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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, Rape, War, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Homophobia, Death, War, Torture, Antisemitism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Excrement

sydapel's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

Quite a challenging book to read both in terms of the geo political ground it's covering and the content (check trigger warnings), but wow. Nahr's journey is steeped in loss, insecurity and strife, but the core of it is about community and hope and love. It's a difficult thing to do to present both of these simultaneously in a novel about injustice and subjugation, but the author handles it so well. I was particularly impressed by the way suffering never feels glamorized or heroic, it exists right alongside Nahr's perception of her heroism and sacrifice. An important book to read and remember that war and conflict effect ordinary people the most, and that communities in the Middle East have been fighting for their right to live longer than I've been alive.v

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Torture, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Islamophobia, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Gun violence, Confinement, and Miscarriage

zarrazine's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Torture and War

literarydeejay's review

emotional inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Confinement, Abortion, Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, and Torture

beanypole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Confinement, Sexual violence, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Colonisation, War, Sexual assault, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Infertility, Torture, and Pregnancy

Minor: Dementia, Death, and Cancer

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