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delainey5's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and War
jillaay_h's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and War
tashtasher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Physical abuse and Toxic friendship
hoppskotch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
toffishay'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: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Excrement and Religious bigotry
mengzhenreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, and Kidnapping
mme_carton's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal cruelty
n_asyikin_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Told through the views of different characters with varying privileges, you'd see how violence, lack of security, & displacement affect people: some tried to profit off the chaos; others believing that they held the key for betterment; there were those whose grief & trauma were too heavy that their mind sought an alternate reality.
Gripping in its commentary, Frankenstein in Baghdad portrayed how fraught humanity can be especially in a place that lack safety.
Graphic: Ableism and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism and Gore
seawarrior's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Our story begins after a junk dealer, Hadi, collected the body parts of bombing victims left in the street and compiled them to physically construct the creature he calls "Whatsitsname". He made this gruesome task his mission in the hopes that these remainders of corpses "wouldn't be treated as trash, so [they] would be respected like other dead people and given a proper burial". Unknown to Hadi, life is bestowed upon this assembly of loss when the soul of yet another bombing victim possesses the Whatsitsname, who is then claimed by a grieving mother as the answer to her prayers for her son's return from war. The Whatsitsname was made entire by victims whose lives and bodies were ripped apart, their deaths never avenged and their hurt never resolved. Thus it quickly becomes engrossed in an quest for revenge it soon learns is never ending, as it must continue collecting the parts of new victims to sustain itself, even though its very notion of victimhood grows murkier with each part vindicated.
Numerous passages throughout this book read as profound understandings of fear, revenge, and humanity. Saadawi both utilizes and elevates Frankenstein's portrayal of grief as a righteous pain that can prove itself monstrous if left as a wound unhealing. Yet in his adaption the grief which molds a monster is not possessed solely by one man, but by an entire country. I highly recommend this book to those who feel they can handle the subject matter. My only dissatisfaction with it lies with the ending, which felt somewhat rushed, especially in comparison to the tightly woven narratives of the previous chapters. Yet overall, I found this novel both deeply disturbing and emotionally moving, often at the same time. Every accolade given to it has been diligently earned.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
theanxiousbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, and Sexual assault