Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

12 reviews

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

kdominey's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

Titled with the words of James Baldwin, Against the Loveless World is a novel of love and rebellion amidst the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Its heroine, Nahr, is a daring, sarcastic displaced Palestinian who writes the story of her life from solitary confinement, the timeline leaping between her present imprisonment and the years that led up to it.  In Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine, she survives as a sex worker, beautician, daughter, sister, wife, divorcee.  But every step she takes leads her to the man with whom she shares a powerful love, and that makes it all worth it.  This book offers readers a glimpse of human experience beneath an ongoing political crisis.  I especially appreciated the discussion of sexual trauma within the context of such a conservative culture.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Confinement

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Trafficking, Sexual violence, War, Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Sexism

Minor: Pregnancy, Child death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Cancer

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

clarereadstheworld's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I feel like I'm one of the last people to read this book, and I'm kicking myself for taking so long to pick it up, it is such a beautiful and powerful book, with so much packed into just 360 odd pages.

From her isolation cell in an Israeli jail, Nahr tells us her story; from her brief first marriage, through the traumas of war, displacement and sexual exploitation, to the discovery of her homeland, and finally finding a place she felt she could belong. If only there could have been a happy ending.

Like many privileged people living in the west, I knew relatively little of the suffering of the Palestinian people until the violence which erupted around Gaza last summer. If I was shocked by what I learnt last May, it was nothing compared to what I felt reading this book. To say I was heartbroken for the loving innocent Nahr, and the life she wasn't allowed to live is such an understatement. Yet I was also in awe of her strength and resilience, as she was able to pick herself up and reconstruct her life again and again. Despite all the trauma she lived through, the simple fact that she was able to keep going, and find hope again was beautiful.

I loved all the main characters in this book, from Sitti Wasfiyeh the grouchy, seemingly ungrateful grandmother who actually has a heart of gold, to the Jumana who despite a false start turns out to be a true friend. Abulhawa creates such moving characters, with real complexity and depth.

Although the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is very much the core of this novel, so much else is explored in these pages. I found Nahr's attempts at finding love again after trauma, Bilal's gentle patience particularly moving. The ambiguous Um Buraq who both ruined and saved Nahr's life was a character I started off hating, but grew to love despite myself. She stood for women's freedom to do what they want with their bodies, even if that is have sex for money.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, War, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Gun violence

kirstenf's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Police brutality, Abortion, Death, Torture, Miscarriage, War, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Murder, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Medical content, Infidelity, and Cancer

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexism, and Drug use

kerrygetsliterary's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

onmalsshelf's review

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Rape, Violence, Vomit, Torture, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, Genocide, Excrement, Death of parent, Confinement, and Antisemitism

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