Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State by Nadia Murad

18 reviews

loreabad6's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Rape

agneswilhelmine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War

hollyd19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

It’s always hard to review a memoir, but this one particularly so. In The Last Girl, Nadia Murad recounts her experience of living through ISIS’s takeover of her Yazidi community, the mass execution of most of the men, and the enslavement of the women to be sabaya (sex slaves) for the militants. 

Murad’s writing is clear & deliberate, detailing her trauma in hopes of raising awareness & bringing justice to bear on ISIS for their war crimes. She reminisces on her youth, growing up poor but with a loving mother, large family, and a very tight-knit religious minority community. Against this backdrop, the ISIS takeover & genocide is utterly devastating to read. 

Murad mentions that she struggles to extend forgiveness to those who were not a part of ISIS but did not actively combat the new order. She candidly engages with the strain of balancing compassion against feeling abandoned. Even the family that ultimately aided her escape is not fawned over in the text. Murad acknowledges that while she is grateful, she wishes that dissenters had chosen to be more actively engaged with rescues and resistance. I admired her honesty and bravery. 

Ultimately, this book is remarkable, haunting, courageous, and important. I strongly recommend you pick it up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Grief

Minor: Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

ivassavi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.5

(2021 Book#12)
3.5-3.75⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Trafficking

laurikas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.5

This book is tough, the story is so harrowing it physically hurts to read it.

But I understand it's Nadia's right to tell it, however way she wants to tell it.
It does not do to keep silent, and what courage it must take to face it all every day. I admire her for speaking out and for being so active in trying to stop the atrocities against her ethnicity and religious belief.

The only reason I won't rate this any higher is that I expected a bit more from the book - perhaps some more historical context, a different approach to the storytelling, to what the future should look like, even more political, more demanding, more forceful. As it is, I felt it repetitive and very descriptive of violence that we know exist - world is evil - but that could be triggered differently. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit

sbcrra's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, and Religious bigotry

nitny19's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

manderz219's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

Nadia's story was hard to listen to (as I listened to the audiobook), yet I believe a necessary read. Nadia's memoir shares a firsthand experience of being held captive by ISIS as a sex slave. Beyond the atrocities experiences and explained, Nadia shares her experience as a Yazidi in Kocho - a viewpoint I have never been exposed to before. I imagine I'm not the only one educated in the U.S. (and elsewhere) that would say the same! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Rape, and Sexual assault