Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed

5 reviews

speterson47's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

Hollow Fires is a fast paced mystery filled with social commentary. The main character Safiya is part of her high school newspaper that is suddenly hacked following an article published by her. The backlash pushes Safiya into a whirl wind investigation that put her and her close friends in danger. In trying to solve the who done it in a murder and multiple hate speech incidents, not only will they learn about the criminals but also how far they are willing to go to stop it.    

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Violence, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

gabbyjc's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This book is absolutely amazing. Samira Ahmed’s writing is absolutely beautiful and she was able to perfectly encapsulate the feelings I have as a black girl living in America and the fear and terror that comes with being a minority here. She made me feel things, anger, saddened, relief. But, she also reminded me of the privilege I have of being alive today, because many people like myself weren’t granted that. It reminded me of my purpose and need in life to stand up and speak out for others. I would 10/10 recommend this to any body who wants to learn more about the effects of racism on BIPOC or who just wants a good murder mystery to read.


My main critic is that the story was a bit predictable. Early on, I could see what the twist would be and once I got confirmation, it was kind of hard to get through. But the writing is impeccable.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship, Blood, and Police brutality

corriejn's review

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

YA novel about a teen in Chicago dealing with racist and Islamophobic incidents in her community. A bit true crime/mystery, a bit of teen romance, peer drama, struggles at school, etc., and lots of contextualizing situations within both real and fictionalized events in the rise of open right wing and xenophobic sentiments in the U.S. and social media. Some points made a bit "on the nose" but didn't feel too out of place for the genre.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail

waterbottle57's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident and War

greenlivingaudioworm's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Gaslighting