Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

12 reviews

lynettepv's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The author really bring the reader into the feelings of desperation of the women. The trauma that is passed down through the generations of women And men 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

sassyykassie's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Abortion

Minor: Child death, Genocide, Xenophobia, Car accident, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

michaelion's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

I read Evil Eye last month and gave it 5 stars, and it's near impossible for me to give things 5 stars, so I figured this woman must be amazing I gotta read what else she has. Only one other book?! How heartbreaking! I need more! Etaf Rum the woman that you are!!!

I do feel that if I had read this book first and Evil Eye second, I still would've given Evil Eye 5 stars. These books were written for the culture. Not my culture, but the importance of them, the weight of them, were not just to represent Palestinians and Arabs, but to show other Arabs "this is who we are, we have stories to tell, and we have to be honest with ourselves" and I love that SO much. Etaf Rum you will always be famous!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Deportation

Minor: Body horror, Drug use, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Islamophobia, Stalking, and Car accident

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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? Yes

4.75

This was a rough one, and I was surprised that it was on Jenna Bush Hager's reading list, but I'm probably judging her unfairly based on her father. I thought the book unfolded very well, and I will definitely read this author again. Lots of digging fingernails into legs, though. Maybe that was on purpose to connect the generations of women?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Murder

agustdefault's review

dark emotional 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

absolutely breathtaking. left my heart shattered. such an important story but one that keeps you hooked from start to finish. and as a debut…incredible. omw to get her next book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Alcoholism

shushkeepitdown's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I was straight up bawling my eyes over this book. It really shows the dangers of misogynistic culture being inbedded into religion and twisting it's words. This book made me so mad at the men and the current world we live in.  Not much has changed but I hope one day as a woman myself I can make my own choices without having a finger pointed at me just for existing. A beautiful book which made me super emotional. Highly recommend pick it up but be warned there is a lot of triggering topics and contents in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Self harm, and Blood

Minor: Car accident

mentions of car accident but no one actually dies by one

massara's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

This was an absolutely heart-wrenching read written in such a magnificent way. It is an excellent representation of generational trauma and how it can continue to affect families as they grow. I appreciate Rum's use of each of the character's different perspectives as they opened my eyes to the horrors my ancestors could have faced as well. This book is of course a novel but it might as well be non-fiction due to all the unfortunate truths within the pages of it. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Xenophobia

greyemk's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

2.0

Didn’t care for this. Gratuitous violence throughout the whole book and the themes were heavy-handed. Characters felt flat, like people I had seen before, with the exception of Isra who was really the heart of the novel. That said I did breeze through it as the core mystery is quite engaging.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation

saraellenme's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Abortion, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Torture, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

mariahkindareads's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Islamophobia