Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

5 reviews

thunderling's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

5.0

god, this book...i finished it in one day. this book made me feel everything. i was angry about 70% of the time because the gaslighting was doing my head in. but that's the sign of a good author because golly does she make you feel.

i'm not one for character-driven books because i find that the plot usually falls on the wayside but etaf rum does a wonderful job by exploring yara's journey. the writing is beautiful but not too flowery so it didn't fall flat. i was so invested in yara's journey and i didn't understand why people said it was boring. perhaps because i relate so heavily to yara's identity!

my one tiny critique is that i wish the whole situation about the trip was less insistent. i think if etaf rum had shown how

fadi isn't emotionally invested in his wife's interests some other way

that would have been more impactful. but honestly, it's not major that i would lessen my rating.

i also wish we got more of silas! i thoroughly enjoyed his friendship with yara.

it's definitely a book that will stay with me for a looong time. definitely gonna read a woman is no man next!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

nithya_natalya's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Trying to read more books by Palestinian authors, and this one showed up on a few lists of recs. I'm not normally a literary fiction fan, so I struggled through this. So much of this book is Yara's inner thoughts, and not a lot of plot. Normally, I would hate that. However, I'm giving it 4 stars though because it made me cry multiple times, and the fact that it brought such strong emotions at me means it was doing something right. I saw myself and my family in Yara's experience. I also am a sucker for storylines involving platonic love, and there was a great friendship in this. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Genocide, Homophobia, Colonisation, and War

rachelfayreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and War

ccerpa's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: War

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Homophobia