Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

80 reviews

shaleen64's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense 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

4.0

Whilst a work of fiction, this book really humanises the refugee crisis and should be read by all, but certainly by those who fail to empathise with refugees.

The story follows Nuri and Afra fleeing Syria  through split timelines, which can be difficult to follow, but does not take away from the beautiful writing. 

This is a book of love, hope and determination in the face of extreme hardship and loss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

eve_kadou's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Grief, and War

janetterhoff's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Heartbreaking, beautiful, and real. I vision into what it’s like to lose your life and home as you knew them, to struggle through loss, and make a seemingly impossible and unknowable journey, pushing through darkness, persevering in your search for hope, when you’ve lost nearly everything, including yourself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, and Kidnapping

It’s a tough but powerful read with beautiful imagery and humanization of people in a world of anti-immigrant xenophobia. I highly recommend it. It’s a very informed perspective as well. Worth the difficulty in reading it.

adelita18's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• 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: Child death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia

chanatova's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, War, and Deportation

Moderate: Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Deportation

drb_11's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

__adrianwalker's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

2.5

To many religious inaccuracies for a book that so heavily centers around religion as a motivator for characters—strange hyper fixation on women's hair and taking of a hijab, linguistic mistakes, misattributions to the Quran.

The story's conclusion also felt very unsatisfying at the end, the entire book built up to an ambiguous ending that was morally grey at best, with no real resolution for any of the main character's conflicts (internal or external).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Minor: Rape and Islamophobia

kalyaniwarrier's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

A fictionalised story, told in a narrative that sounds so close to reality, mentions of grave events in real life that makes one realise the horrors taking place around the world.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a brilliant piece of work that is heavily regarded in temporal distortion as the timelines shift after every chapter. But unlike other works where such skipping of timelines makes the plot difficult to visualise and piece together, Christy Lefteri has done an incredible job in the pacing and sequencing the plot, readers can be gratified by following the plot without having to give thought to the timelines despite the lack of linearity. 

Apart from the various sensitive topics discussed, what one could find most appealing about the novel is the characterisation of Nuri, the protagonist and narrator and his mental health struggles. After losing his son to war, Nuri suffers with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as he tries to distance himself from the trauma he has suffered by making illusions of various sorts to cope with the distress. 

I could not point out flaws as the plot and characterisation of the novel does a wonderful job at portraying the tragedies of violence in an apolitical manner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse and Xenophobia

cursedkirst's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and War

Moderate: Rape and Violence

arayo's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Violence, and Murder