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autisticbucky's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Hate crime and Sexual harassment
undecidedpersonality's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gore and Excrement
aly97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Xenophobia and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault
hannahhmh's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual harassment
violetends's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Racism, and Police brutality
rhi_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Drug use and Sexual harassment
caitonline's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Sexual harassment
nannahnannah's review against another edition
3.0
Representation:
- the main characters are all from an unnamed West or South Asian country (someone said it felt a lot like Pakistan)
- one of the main characters (Nadia) is bi
Exit West is a story about immigration and about the life of one couple during the hardship and terror of war. About what all that does to a relationship and what that does to people and societies as a whole.
It’s beautiful and thought provoking. But I struggled to connect with the characters and their personal story because of the writing style. I’m not trying to be pretentious, and I know the style and its (mis)use of grammar is fully intentional, but reading wordy run-on sentences over and over and over gets exhausting really fast. There’s even one page that consists of a single run-on sentence containing 60 commas (as one reviewer counted).
The writing is also very detached, telling everything and showing almost nothing. We’re told what the characters feel, but there’s no feeling it, no experiencing anything in real time. It’s like reading events from an encyclopedia or wikipedia entry. The story is a good one, but I could never feel it or get absorbed by it.
What I did love were the magical realism elements. It really added a beautiful and almost uplifting element to an otherwise somber story. And the writing style isn’t bad; the author is clearly very talented. It’s just not my thing. This book is still definitely worth reading … but maybe just once.
Moderate: Sexual harassment
moonytoast's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
maybe would’ve rated this higher if there weren’t sentences verging on seven or more lines long…. if it would necessitate a block quote, it shouldn’t be a single sentence! trust me, this is coming from a resident long sentence girlie who constantly got feedback about how long my sentences were in my essays for high school.
all in all though, this was a nice read and an interesting examination of how magical realism could impact our world’s sociopolitical climate and policies (i.e. nativism and immigration politics).
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury
amberinbookland's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and War