Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom by Dena Takruri, Ahed Tamimi

19 reviews

moonyreadsbystarlight's review

emotional informative reflective tense

5.0

Such a powerful story! Well-written and engaging, it tells the horrific experience of living under apartheid and, as a child, facing crimes against humanity. An important read for context of what continues to happen in Palestine, and made me think a lot about  prison writing more broadly (this wasn't written IN prison, but details her time there a lot)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

What an incredible memoir. It’s so hard to hear but so important. She is so reflective and her life story is incredible. Especially her time in prison. I also appreciate how she talked about afterwards. I think everyone should read the story to get an understanding of Palestine and the conflict as well as what the children of Palestine have been through. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

zombiezami's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Vomit, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jouljet's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and War

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

zgreyz's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Mass/school shootings

kimreads14's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

Tamimi's story is one of thousands that you will hear if you take the time to listen to Palestinian voices. Her recounting of what she went through during her teenage years inside Israeli prison system. 

Ahed is truly a freedom fighter and the fact that she willingly shared her traumatic experience is incredible. She is inspiring and I truly hope that anyone who reads or listens to this book will realize what Palestinian children have to endure daily. 🍉 🫒

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

megnut's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

yourbookishbff's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Ahed Tamimi's memoir is a must-read for anyone committed to learning more about those advocating for Palestinian freedom. They Called Me a Lioness recounts the traumatic experiences of her childhood growing up under Israeli military occupation and witnessing the abuse, torture and murder of various family members as a young kid and then teen. As Ahed begins participating in protest marches and demonstrations organized by her parents, she becomes a visible figure in the Palestinian resistance movement for her continued presence and activism. She ultimately serves more than eight months in Israeli prison at 16 and 17 years old on charges of *assaulting an Israeli soldier (*slapping an armed soldier who had - the same day - shot her cousin in the face).  

The portions of her memoir that recount her time in prison, detailing the day-to-day life of women and children in Israeli prison for various political crimes (including many who are under "administrative detention" with no charges), are compelling reminders that Ahed is a child in prison. She's a teenager attempting to finish high school, reading romance novels to her cellmates as they make up their faces with the colored pencils provided to them by The Red Cross, laughing over toothpaste pranks and silly seances. She's a child, so feared by the Israeli government that they interrogate her multiple times and imprison her family members in attempts to compel her cooperation.

Ahed's memoir ends in hopeful advocacy and reflections on the globalization of the Palestinian cause. It's this hope and belief in a future free of apartheid that is most devastating for today's reader witnessing the atrocities in Gaza. As a pacifist Quaker, I believe Ahed's reflections on resistance are vital to all of those who stand against apartheid and state violence, and for all of those who ask themselves, as Ahed does, how we can resist violent systems of oppression.

I highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by co-author Dena Takruri.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

streberkatze's review

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

4.0

In her memoir, Ahed Tamimi tells the story of her life and resistance struggle within the context of Palestinian history and the resistance struggle more generally, which makes this book accessible for readers with different levels of background knowledge. Even though none of the information in the book was new or surprising, it hit me hard. Reading about the never-ending brutalization and killing of Palestinians, including children, in the news is one thing. But hearing about it from a young woman who has lived — and continues to live — the horrors herself and has refused to give up in the face of them has had a lasting impact on me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual harassment