Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

78 reviews

jennbm's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse and Suicidal thoughts

purely_romantic's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Genocide

lauren_lovestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

First, I’d like to say I did like this book but I felt frustrated by the repetition. I wished there had been more backstory about Yara’s mother and grandmother, and less of the endless cycle of Yara and Fadi’s relationship. I felt that there was more potential for this story that wasn’t realized. The writing is lovely and engaging. I just wanted a bit more to the story that didn’t feel like reading the same chapter in different words so many times over. All that said, it’s still definitely worth the read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Abandonment

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Genocide, Infidelity, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and War

annamay1021's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

kamin8882's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Genocide and Death of parent

ameliorater's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism

yazzy_annalise's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense 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

I struggled a lot while reading this book. I went back and forth about how much I liked it or not. The first half of the book felt very slow to me, and I was frustrated by the main character's inner monologue. From the very beginning I knew she deserved better and it was really difficult getting through her character growth. HOWEVER, I do think it is so incredibly realistic to how inner healing and traumatized brains work. 

Her character growth was slow and hard to get through because that is how it is in real life. Growth isn't entertaining and people make wrong and bad decisions on their journey's to be better people. The fact that she grew and knew what would ultimately be best for herself and for her children means so much more for Yara's journey. That's what she has been battling all this time: all of these expectations that were forced on her that she thinks defines who she is, when the reality is that she can make choices that will lead to a different life. She just has to be intentional about those choices. This shift in the story telling felt kind of abrupt and really quick at the end, but I can't be upset because I think the author ultimately ended the novel in such a perfect way. I thought the ending would feel rushed, but it felt very full circle. All of the previous entries made sense with just those last couple of pages.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to support Arab and Palestinian authors but also need to read a fiction book. It really explores what it means to have fulfilling relationships and life in world that puts so many expectations on us.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Genocide and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infidelity and Death of parent

rberdan's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is the first book I've written by Etaf Rum. I can see from many other reviews that what is consistent about this author is her ability to bring the reader into the emotional reality of the character.

This story was a pretty deep dive into the internal and external life of Yara, a young wife and mother who holds the weight of cultural expectations while longing for a different path. It follows her experience with the judgment of others as she slowly begins to look within herself to see who she can become on the other side of grief and trauma. As a whole, that unravels in a way that feels very real (and aligned with some of my own experience), even if it is hard to be in the emotional places Yara has to go through in order to heal.

I think the moments I struggled with in the book come down to forgetting how young Yara is as she navigates life. Also, I think her husband's dismissive behaviour was really difficult to sit through; though it's not an excuse for how unkind he could be to his wife, I got the impression his behaviour had a lot to do with a combination of immaturity and also wanting a different path than his family and community would see him follow. I suspect because it was a good reflection of reality, I found some of the racism Yara experienced really hard to endure, and I'm white. 

I appreciated seeing Yara find her own inner strength and how she got into real talk with her daughters so they could have a different experience than she did. I loved how her supportive friendship became such a lovely touchstone for her. I appreciated how the book treated her relationship with her mother, in particular the importance of understanding the role of a child vs. the role of a parent and the journey of forgiveness that can make way for so much healing. The ending was so wonderfully hopeful. 

This was a hard and beautiful read. I think I would have rated this higher when I was in a life stage that more closely aligned with Yara's as I think I would have benefited from more insight than I was able to get from this book at this point in my life. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Genocide, Infidelity, Grief, and Death of parent

thealmightykatt's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent