Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

9 reviews

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

battlecat's review

challenging emotional 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? No

5.0

Wow. 

Nahr is an incredible voice truly “against a loveless world.” The trauma she endures is difficult to read. The love and kinship and belonging she finds and makes in the midst of turmoil is a powerful statement. I read this book in a day and will definitely be rereading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Rape, War, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Torture, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abortion, Racial slurs, Alcohol, and Child death

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

readingintothevoid's review

DNF at 14%—Entirely my fault. I try to read synopsis’s as little as possible to get an idea of a book because I like to go in surprised. If I’d read it enough to get to the part that says she’s forced into prostitution, I wouldn’t have picked this up. I DNF’d before the MC even realizes that’s the situation she’s in, but sexual assault particularly while drunk is a massive trigger warning for me and I just could not complete the scene. So TW! For anyone else who needs to know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Alcohol, and Sexual assault

jeanniea's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

A bit slow in the beginning, but it picks up towards the end. Love the strength that the mc shares and the growth she goes thru. Love the messages of the story. The ending felt fulfilling in an open way.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Colonisation

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Infertility, Rape, and Torture

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

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

thrillofthepage's review

dark emotional informative 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: Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Colonisation, Cursing, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Pregnancy