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astralumpia's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Prose is very beautiful, while a bit repetitive (more prose poetry than prose in some parts but fits the themen, some metaphors needed a breath inbetween them in terms of pacing but again still really lovely). I love the intimate letter correspondence structure of this, and the twist, while somewhat predictable, had a really great (even a bit breathtaking) emotional payoff. Reminded me a bit of A Thousand Splendid Suns. Nadir’s and even more so Leila’s journeys are the heart of this, and the more (b-roll?) taking place in the present sometimes felt less fleshed out but will feel nevertheless resonant for qtpoc searching for themselves. I can see the found family comfort in these scenes and they still do hit close to home.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
camillatd's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
The Thirty Names of Night is a rich, expansive, heart-opening novel. Our (initially) unnamed narrator is grieving his mother, seeking meaning in his art, and attempting to untangle a family secret. The novel moves between two voices: the present-day narrator and the artist Laila Z, whose journal entries he uncovers. With each diary entry he reads, our narrator comes closer to understanding his mother’s life and death, but he also comes closer to understanding (and embracing) himself and his transness. Joukhadar really masterfully weaves together past and present, creating a striking narrative of family, migration, and intergenerational queerness. Both timelines and narrators felt equally crucial to the story, which I think is really hard to achieve in a novel. I felt so connected to these characters and so invested in their journeys.
While this novel contains a lot of pain (from gender dysphoria to grief to racism and xenophobia), it’s full of love and beauty. The novel is rich with symbolism, birds and ghosts and paintings and flowers and secrets, scenes that took my breath away.
This was another book that allowed me to sit in the wise grief/wise joy that I’ve been reflecting on since I read Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: “I hope that when there is laughter, it’s laughter made wise by having known real grief—and when there if grief, it is made wise by having known real joy.”
This is a novel about community, and how caring for each other and making art is a form of resistance. Moving from Syria to New York City to Dearborn, Michigan, the story explores how community ties are enshrined in structures, but how they also transcend buildings, places, and cities. Joukhadar also crafts a moving narrative of queer resilience across time and place. The novel’s cast of predominantly queer and trans characters carve out space and community and love and family for themselves, in deeply queer and deeply beautiful ways. Queer and trans people have always been here, and we always will be.
While this novel contains a lot of pain (from gender dysphoria to grief to racism and xenophobia), it’s full of love and beauty. The novel is rich with symbolism, birds and ghosts and paintings and flowers and secrets, scenes that took my breath away.
This was another book that allowed me to sit in the wise grief/wise joy that I’ve been reflecting on since I read Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: “I hope that when there is laughter, it’s laughter made wise by having known real grief—and when there if grief, it is made wise by having known real joy.”
This is a novel about community, and how caring for each other and making art is a form of resistance. Moving from Syria to New York City to Dearborn, Michigan, the story explores how community ties are enshrined in structures, but how they also transcend buildings, places, and cities. Joukhadar also crafts a moving narrative of queer resilience across time and place. The novel’s cast of predominantly queer and trans characters carve out space and community and love and family for themselves, in deeply queer and deeply beautiful ways. Queer and trans people have always been here, and we always will be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Grief, Dysphoria, and War
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Fire/Fire injury
rhi_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Islamophobia, and Lesbophobia
displacedcactus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? Yes
This book has a very slow start, but once I got into it, I was really sucked into the dual timelines and finding the parallels and connections between them. It's definitely literary in its scope and tone, but with some fantastic elements. It's a bit of a ghost story, but in a sad way rather than a scary way. It's a bit of a coming of age story, a reminder that sometimes we don't get the chance to truly come into ourselves until sometime in adulthood. It's about family, both blood and chosen. And it's also about birds and art and race and gender and religion and so many important things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Dysphoria
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Islamophobia, and Death of parent
The main character is frequently misgendered, since he is not "out" for most of the book, but his deadname never appears on the page. Most of the transphobia is of the "I don't get it" sort from clueless but loving family members, rather than acts of hate and violence. The story also deals with the displacement of immigrant communities to make way for "progress" in the form of infrastructure that "has" to run through their neighborhoods.madzie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? No
5.0
Joukhadar is one of the most beautiful writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Every word in this novel is stitched together in the most ornate tapestry. Poetic and made with gold, every sentence feels exactly like it does to breathe. Beyond the writing, this book fits together beautifully, the plot moving along like a river, with introspective characters that weave together to tell themes about life.
My favorite part of this book was how Joukhadar explores transness, gender, and queerness with beautiful insights and understandings. He boldly tells stories of how queer people have always existed and will always exist despite being silenced or staying silent for protection. With a large cast of queer characters, I love how the book deals with how other people see queerness and how it is a fight to be one’s authentic self. The nuances of how queerness is viewed in society and then in smaller relationships with friends and family is masterfully detailed as Joukhadar demonstrates how people can react to it, thinking that you owe them something, but how we have to journey to accept that we only owe it to ourselves to be authentically us. Then, Joukhadar takes this a step further to connect to the intersectionality of oppression and what the majority of society believes those they have put under them should be. Despite this, Joukhadar reminds his readers of hope and the courage of fighting for oneself, one's identity, and what one believes in. In the end, he highlights lessons, purposes, and identities that are highly important for us to consider and carry with us in our lives.
Other deep and profound themes are handled wonderfully in this novel, exploring grief and moving on, as well as how humans continue to affect one another, the appreciativeness of what we take for granted, and the beautiful connection of humanity to nature, reminding us that nothing ever truly fits into a box. All of these interact with each other to show us how magnificent life can be and how we become who we are.
I could go on and on about this novel, but the bottom line is: read it; it's stunning.
My favorite part of this book was how Joukhadar explores transness, gender, and queerness with beautiful insights and understandings. He boldly tells stories of how queer people have always existed and will always exist despite being silenced or staying silent for protection. With a large cast of queer characters, I love how the book deals with how other people see queerness and how it is a fight to be one’s authentic self. The nuances of how queerness is viewed in society and then in smaller relationships with friends and family is masterfully detailed as Joukhadar demonstrates how people can react to it, thinking that you owe them something, but how we have to journey to accept that we only owe it to ourselves to be authentically us. Then, Joukhadar takes this a step further to connect to the intersectionality of oppression and what the majority of society believes those they have put under them should be. Despite this, Joukhadar reminds his readers of hope and the courage of fighting for oneself, one's identity, and what one believes in. In the end, he highlights lessons, purposes, and identities that are highly important for us to consider and carry with us in our lives.
Other deep and profound themes are handled wonderfully in this novel, exploring grief and moving on, as well as how humans continue to affect one another, the appreciativeness of what we take for granted, and the beautiful connection of humanity to nature, reminding us that nothing ever truly fits into a box. All of these interact with each other to show us how magnificent life can be and how we become who we are.
I could go on and on about this novel, but the bottom line is: read it; it's stunning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Hate crime, Sexism, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content
quinnyquinnquinn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
Minor: Death
dianna_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
madscientistcat's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Death of parent
noah_silver's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
I liked the two interwoven timelines, the development and growth of the two main characters & their different voices, the different kinds of queerness coming up during the story - and the focus on & omnipresence of birds in the lives of the characters.
However, at some points I found it a bit slow and am still confused about some turns of the story. It might be due to listening to it as an audio book and maybe not catching everything. I was also not completely convinced of the audio book narrator's styles.
However, at some points I found it a bit slow and am still confused about some turns of the story. It might be due to listening to it as an audio book and maybe not catching everything. I was also not completely convinced of the audio book narrator's styles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Transphobia, and War
Description of menstruation; gyn appointmentwhitedaylilies's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Death of parent