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Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'
Tous les hommes désirent naturellement savoir by Nina Bouraoui
4 reviews
saskiacb's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and War
asainspace's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Interesting, readable and short work of autofiction. For me it could have benefitted from being longer and more developed - there was quite a lot of repetition and it ended in a rush.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Abandonment, and War
Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse, Genocide, and Antisemitism
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
This is a difficult review to write since it’s the book is an autobiographical novel, which means some parts are from the author’s life and other parts are fictionalized (but we don’t know which are which). It is known that the author is part French and part Algerian so it was interesting to read about her coming of age between cultures. Nina grows up in Algeria until she’s 14 years old when her family flees to Paris after her mother is assaulted. Nina visits a gay club every night and walks the streets of Paris, struggling to accept her sexuality and reflecting on her childhood.
The chapters are written as short snippets titled “remembering, becoming, or knowing.” The timeline throughout the book is scattered which could be confusing at times. However I did still enjoy the concept of the shorter chapters, viewing Nina’s experiences through quick glances. Even though they’re short, you could still get a feel for her past in an intense way. However I would’ve been interested to go deeper into getting to know her!
The writing style was well done and had beautiful prose, which led to me annotating several passages. The book is a great exploration and discussions on issues of identity, colonialism, discovering sexuality, and family trauma-specifically around mother daughter relationships.
Overall the book could be confusing at times, especially in the beginning, but I ended up really enjoying it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, and War
Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Pedophilia
rmtbray's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Rape