Reviews tagging 'Injury/injury detail'

The Stationery Shop of Tehran, by Marjan Kamali

5 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

this absolutely wrecked me. i cried in public reading this. 

it was so enlightening on the tribulations many Iranian people faced during that time. i felt my heart break when the characters faced grief and loss, which is hard for an author to achieve. 

i would recommend this 1000%, please just check trigger warnings!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/injury detail, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, War, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Classism, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Self harm, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexism, Injury/injury detail, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion

megelizabeth's review against another edition

2.0

This book pains me a little to review, because it has so many elements that I loved, but ultimately its flaws are too significant to merit a higher rating. The writing is brilliant, the sense of place and time is incredible, and there are so many great discussions about cultural differences, the reality of immigrant life, and the roles and expectations of women in Iran and the US. It presents a much more nuanced look at 1950s life than the stereotyped version you often see, and I just adored the sprawling, layered narrative and everything it has to say about love, loss, politics, and familial and societal expectations.

However, there are two things about this book that I just cannot forgive. The first is that it celebrates a character who grooms a child, and the second is that its representation of a mentally ill character feels lazy and one-dimensional and made me very uncomfortable. I'm not saying that mentally ill people can never be bad people, but to present the only mentally ill character as such and to leave very little space for any slight expectation of why they act the way they do is just irresponsible in my opinion. This book could've been incredible if these two elements had been dealt with differently, but instead I was just left feeling thoroughly frustrated and disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Child death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Murder, Death, Miscarriage, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment

angieoverbooked's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Injury/injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Abortion

marissasa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

I never thought I would cry listening to an audiobook but boy did this one prove me wrong. The Stationery Shop was full of love and culture and humanity and sadness, so much so that it felt like the characters were real people and this was a true retelling of their lives rather than a historical fiction. The descriptive setting of a politically-charged Tehran, all the side characters full of personality, the themes of the pursuit of knowledge and truth through literature and social justice, and the mouthwatering descriptions of traditional Iranian food brought this story to life and helped to make it memorable to me as more than just a star-crossed lovers plot. Although it was slow in the start and I didn't immediately connect with Roya and Bahman's relationship because of how fast it happened, my mind changed by the end once I had seen all the angst, pain, yearning, heartbreak, and acceptance that they had to go through to get to the point when they would finally meet again 60 years later. With each detail of how Bahman's memory of Roya lived on in his heart and mind every single day, my own heart hurt. From the stationery shop he established in the US modeled after the place they first met, to his favorite poem from Rumi that he shared with Roya and exchanged letters through which his children then read at his funeral, I was tearing up. Just when I thought this sweet and sad story couldn't tear my heart out anymore, the epilogue started and the tears were just flowing. This book was a truly emotional one full of the losses, joys, and complexities of life that make up the human experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Blood, Classism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abortion