Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Mis Últimos 10 Minutos y 38 Segundos en este Extraño Mundo, by Elif Shafak

19 reviews

gbmillar2002's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Shafak beuatifullly weaves narratives and prose to create Tequila Lelia’s story. This is a story that blends her experience of death and her life, whilst also exploiting the affects on her found family. The plot, characters and word choice is excellent, however i the reason why I have not given this novel 5 stars is because strong emotion was not evoked eg sadness, happiness etc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Xenophobia, Transphobia, Self harm, Ableism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Child death, Mental illness, and Trafficking

mallard_duck's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

 A good book if you want to remind yourself why patriarchy is the worst, I guess?

Here's a girl from an increasingly religious family, riddled with misplaced guilt and unable to find justice after being sexually abused by a relative, who decides to run away from home to seek a better life in a big city - where she becomes easy prey to traffickers and sold into forced sex work. Her best friend, a trans woman who becomes a sex worker because that's one of the only career paths available to her. Another naive girl with no support from family who believes in lofty promises of work in a foreign country but ends up sold to a brothel instead. A woman who ran away from her abusive husband to start a new life elsewhere, the fear of being found (and brutally murdered) by him always casting shadow on her life. A dwarf trying to make a life in a world that'd rather not see her. Finally, two men: one a somewhat idealistic revolutionary, the other living a quiet life tinged with regret that doesn't feel like his own. As the backdrop to their stories, perhaps a seventh character of itself, is the tumultously changing Turkey of the second half of the 20th century.

Now, despite starting with a murder, this story isn't a detective novel, or even a crime novel, really. It is a character study: using Leila's death as a trigger point, Shafak delves into the lives of those six distinct characters, exploring how their experiences shaped them and how their lives eventually became intermingled. The writing is good, the whole book - entertaining, although I'd hardly call it outstanding or unique. Each individual story follows a path that's both believable and extremely predictable, even to a reader not very familiar with the Turkish, Middle Eastern, and African societies. I hesitate to call it a bunch of cliches because that sounds unnecessarily un-flattering, plus the characters are realistic - there are thousands of people just like Leila, Nalan, Sinan, Jameela, Zeinab, or Humeyra in the world - and calling something so close to real world experiences cliches doesn't sound right either. But I feel like I've read too many testimonies from people exactly like the ones in 10 minutes 38 seconds - to the point, perhaps, of becoming somewhat numbed to them, especially when a book has so little actual action-based plot that these character studies have to carry it from beginning to end.

Lastly, I'm not sure if this was an attempt to match the language to the times (the events of the book take place largely before the 1990s), but the terms transvestite and transsexual being used interchangeably definitely kept throwing me off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Ableism, Domestic abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Miscarriage and Self harm

There are a lot of heavy themes in this book, especially around sex work (including trafficking).

sakisreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

2.5

As striking and vivid as some of the imagery was, I unfortunately found this book disappointing 🥺 I think it had such an incredible concept (e.g. someone passing away and seeing parts of their life flash before their eyes) but it wasn’t well executed. I felt that Elif Shafak was rushing through some vital parts and slowing down some others. I am intrigued by Shafak’s walk of life and might venture to try her other books, but am not rushing to do it 🥲 Overall, I gave it a 2.5 out of 5 stars ✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Rape, Chronic illness, Ableism, Violence, Child abuse, Islamophobia, Incest, and Misogyny

irenemarie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Whew. My heart is filled and aches at the same time with this novel. The first half your admiration grows for someone whose fate you know is death. It is truly bittersweet. Tequila Leila is the friend you want to have, compassionate, accepting and courageous. Through her last minutes of life, you are introduced to her people, the five, whom she was fiercely loyal to, in return through the second half we learn how much she meant to them. I will reiterate what others have said, Elif Shafak is a phenomenal storyteller. Learning more about her voice through this novel and subsequent browsing on her, she is solidified as an auto-buy author for me. I am excited to explore her back catalogue.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Transphobia

Minor: Police brutality, Trafficking, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Child death, Suicide, Ableism, and Rape

sydneyjn's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

What a beautifully written, stunning book.  I loved the structure of the novel, with Leila remembering her friends and how they all met, and then the second half being her friends coming together.  The idea that, after you die, you're still remembering and piecing your life together - I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, Ableism, Transphobia, and Child death

Minor: Deadnaming

ollie_again's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, and Torture

moonchildjuli's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Incest, Grief, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Homophobia, and Trafficking

manasvini's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad fast-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

3.75

What I liked:
The concept, the narrative, the cast of diverse characters and stories, the vivid and immersive descriptions of Istanbul

What I disliked:
The sheer amount of trauma, which almost started feeling like sensationalism, especially when accompanied with little to no reflection on it. (I wish I had read the trigger warnings before hand.) How much the first part slogged in comparison to the second and third parts. 

It was a good read but does not make me motivated to read other works by Shafak.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Drug use, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Car accident, Cursing, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infertility, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Torture

hiba_biba's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Ableism and Death

linguisticali's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

I liked the writing, but, as other reviewers have pointed out, this becomes a different book halfway through, which is odd - it felt like the main premise of the book (based on the blurb and title) should have been most of the story, and the rest could have been covered in an epilogue. The second part onwards was interesting at first, but ended up dragging. It was nice to see some joy and hopefulness in the midst of the relentless tragedy, but so much of it was only really clear after her death. 

It felt like the book was leaning into the idea of sex work as inherently tragic, and I was also uncomfortable with the way the trans character's physicality was constantly foregrounded (her size! her hands! her surgeries! her breasts!).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Trafficking, Transphobia, Miscarriage, and Self harm

Minor: Ableism