Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

2 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? No

3.0

Full of hardships as you might imagine any book about shipwrecked refugees might be. 
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blueteacup's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

 What Strange Paradise is a challenging novel about the migrant crisis currently happening around the world, specifically tackling migrants from Southwest Asia and North Africa trying to come to Europe.  El Akkad uses alternating perspectives between a Syrian child refugee and a Greek teenager to both emphasize cultural and linguistic differences and to portray themes of finding mutual understanding despite these differences.

El Akkad is expertly able to enter the mind of a child and explain what the world looks like to a young boy who is in an unfamiliar place all alone, fleeing from war and strife.  He uses fine details to express Amir’s desire to go home despite having no home to go back to, without blatantly stating the obvious.  He also uses a wide cast of minor characters to explore differing perspectives on migration and refugee status.  From a pregnant migrant woman still desperately trying to hold onto her morals and dignity when it seems everyone else has lost theirs, to a racist colonel afraid of white replacement, El Akkad is able to delve into each character’s mind and portray three-dimensional individuals.
My only gripe with the novel was I found it a bit hard to keep track of all of the characters on the migrant boat, as many were introduced all at once with little intro.

Overall, What Strange Paradise is a very well-written and insightful novel about migration and refugees, with interesting, well-rounded characters. 
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