Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Love Is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar

20 reviews

speedofhuman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Fatphobia, Bullying, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Sexism, Islamophobia, Sexual violence, and Racism

Minor: War, Pedophilia, and Police brutality

bostonki's review against another edition

I really wanted to like this book. I really did. Based on the blurb, I was expecting travel memoir. Alas, this was mostly just an essay memoir. Which is fine, except there is too much graphic sex and asexual shaming for my tastes. Jarrar’s holier-than-thou attitude rubbed me the wrong way, and the final straw was a sentence on page 159 of the ARC that reads, “When I arrive in Austin, I get nostalgic because I can’t afford to live there anymore. The airport is full of transplants, cowboy-boot-wearing women who don’t deserve to live there.” Who are you to decide who deserves what? Bye!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

kleinekita's review

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

rebecca1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.75

A challenging but rewarding read, fully immersive and beautifully told. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

emoryscott's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

2.75

I really wanted to like this book. I love memoirs and the jacket summary was intriguing. However, this author’s style is not for me. If you enjoy quippy, erratic narration, you’ll love this. I felt like the journey across the country could have been more clearly defined. I felt like I never knew which era of her life she was speaking about. I know this is some people’s favorite type of writing, but it just wasn’t for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Child abuse, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Genocide, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Also, at times, it really seemed like the author was glorifying trauma and abuse. It was definitely a bit difficult to read as a survivor, but I can see how someone else may find this empowering.

yazzy_annalise's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

I wasn't really sure if I was going to like this book, but once I got used to the writing style being more like essays. I loved it. I found a lot of my own journey in this book, and not all of those realizations were pleasant, but I hope to one day get to a similar healed and self-loved point that the author reaches

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Sexual content

rahthesungod's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

amisk23's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and Fatphobia

sbooksbowm's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Spellbinding 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

imrereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

3.0

I was gifted a copy of this book by Catapult. Thank you so much! 

I have conflicting thoughts. While there are some really wonderfully written and capturing sections, I felt over all that it didn't deliver what it advertised. It certainly isn't cross-country roadtrip the blurb promised. 

My biggest issue is that it felt very fragmentes and not flowing together the way I would have wanted. It jumps very quickly from topic to topic, from childhood to adulthood, from serious to lighthearted. This made it hard for me to feel engaged in the narrarive. It's certainly a provocative memoir for better and for worse. At least personally I found several sections to be quite triggering to read, and I wish it didn't jump so quickly from topic to topic. 

Still, I want to repeat that there are some really good and thought provoking sections. For example the chapter where she's at the airport in Isreal had me at the edge of my seat. I won't forget it easily! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, and Sexual assault