Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

7 reviews

lprongs's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Racism, Sexism, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Transphobia and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

jennswan's review

emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Sexual assault

singlier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

The Thirty Names of Night 4.5/5 🪶s

Oh my goodness. I loved this book. It is beautiful: a reflective mingling of past and present explored through alternating POVs of a two Syrian artists: one, a sapphic immigrant who fled Syrian during the French/Syrian war and the other, a closeted trans man struggling under the grief of his mother's death. It is a story about loss, which means it is a story about love: lost loves, familial love, love of our communities, love of ourselves. On the five-year anniversary of his mother's death, the man finds the journal of the Syrian immigrant and discovers his life and her life are irreparably intertwined through their shared obsession of a rare bird: a bird his mother died before she could prove it was real. What follows is a parallel narrative between past and present, unfolding the lives of both artists as they attempt to unravel their own identities admist the complex and varied social pressures of their varied eras. 

The only reason this book isn't a full five stars for me is that, despite how beautiful it is to read, it is SLOW.  It's a very reflective piece, and I loved the real-world history that went into the creation of this book, but even I at times found myself skipping ahead to get to the next piece of the mystery. I still do highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Dysphoria, War, and Classism

laurareads87's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

The Thirty Names of Night is stunning -- beautiful writing, well structured, nuanced and well-developed characters and a clear setting.  The story alternates between two perspectives -- that of a young Syrian-American trans man living in contemporary-ish Little Syria in NYC, and that of Laila Z, a Syrian American artist who painted and drew birds and who disappeared decades prior.  Both are written in second person, with Nadir addressing his deceased mother and Laila Z's chapters in epistolary format.  This book had me in tears more than once (in the best possible way), and Joukhadar has handled many themes here -- immigration, loss, xenophobia, the pain of contorting oneself to fit gendered expectations, struggles with religion, grief, internalized and external trans- & homophobia, family (birth and chosen) -- so beautifully.  I am immensely grateful to Zeyn Joukhadar for this book, and look forward to reading more from him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: War

seawarrior's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

This is such a beautiful book. Multiple times I re-read passages to ensure I fully absorbed their words and weight. The pages shine with poetry and reflections on grief, and end more rewardingly than I had dared to hope. I highly suggest reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Dementia

baponthecob's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Transphobia, Islamophobia, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Dementia

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.

📚 Beautiful writing, particularly the descriptions of birds and the paintings of them.
📚 This is an #ownvoices book, and the portrayal of a trans boy who isn't out yet feels so real - the delicacy of the situation is tangible.
📚 The way the two storylines interweaved was masterful, and I was in tears at the end.
📚 I don't think I've ever read a story about a queer Syrian American and I'm so glad this book exists now.
📚 I just cannot find the words to adequately express to you how beautiful THE THIRTY NAMES OF NIGHT is. Please read it if you can.

Content warnings: miscarriage, deadnaming, Islamophobia, animal death, death, grief, xenophobia, transphobia, sexual assault.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Miscarriage, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Grief

Minor: Sexual assault