Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

بينما ينام العالم by Susan Abulhawa

17 reviews

nineinchnails's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

 this book broke me. this was definitely hard to get through at some parts, knowing it was first published in 2006, because despite it being 2023 almost nothing has changed. this is technically historical fiction but so much of this has been written around real life events in palestine and even if the characters are fictional their trauma isn't. the story is beautifully written (albeit slightly confusing with the switching of narrator) and gut-wrenchingly painful. it follows the lives of 4 generations within a single family against the backdrop of 1948-2002 palestine.

it feels weird to rate this book like i would other fiction novels, since many of these fictional events are recurring as we speak. what i will say is that anyone even slightly interested in learning about palestine stands to gain a lot from reading this book. while it is definitely heavy and dark, it shows so much beauty in the land and culture too. the story switches hands between characters a fair amount here but i think it works in its favour and is necessary to tell this particular story. i don't think anything i write here could do this book justice but i loved this book from front to cover and i don't think the contents will ever leave my mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Antisemitism, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Rape

read_alittle_whim's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

So much sadness in this book. I am admittedly anti Zionist. I cannot fathom the entitlement they feel they have based on the writings of men long gone. Neither can i fathom the pain that brought them back. But it seems they too cannot fathom the pain they are rendering on people undeserving of it. This book seems to reinforce all of that for me - people behaving badly, people trying to survive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ollie_again's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest and Pedophilia

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Dementia, and Kidnapping

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

justanotherayesha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma