Reviews tagging 'Death'

Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed

17 reviews

brokenbodybitch's review against another edition

5.0

I have so many feelings after finishing this. I’m angry, sad, frustrated but this book is nothing short of amazing. It jumps around many years, using multiple forms of media (think a good girls guide to murder with the podcasts, news outlets and such), it has so much going on, I know I can’t do it justice and I don’t even know where to start about how much I love this book.

I don’t know if I’d necessarily say it was an enjoyable reading experience because of the weight of the tw/cw in this book but it was beautifully written, with interesting and engaging formatting and dear god is it fucking accurate as all hell; I’m mixed/Arab and oh boy…I can’t count how many times someone has called me a terrorist, and like that is the tip of the shit iceberg Arab/middle eastern/bipoc people face on a daily basis and this book does not shy away from all of it and calling it out/talking about it; hence why it is such an anger inducing book but if you can take the tw’s and do not take them lightly at all! Really think if you can cope with it before you read but if you can then I cannnot recommend this book more

*⬆️ these are my initial thoughts ⬆️*

*full review to come*

⚠️DO NOT take TW/CW lightly! This book doesn’t shy away from the ugly, so really think about them and if you can cope with them before you read this book… but, if you think you can take them then I cannnot recommend this book more⚠️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Stalking

ao3simp's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

This was honestly one of the best books I’ve ever read. Truly it was book that spoke out against how truly racist America is. Every word in the book was worth reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

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

mefhreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Islamophobia, and Gaslighting

oatesy's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This was a really hard read, but it was extremely well done. I got goosebumps at some points because of how tense it was and because I really didn’t want anything bad to happen to Safiya or her friends. This book addresses racism and white supremacy (& terrorism)  in America and the strength of minority community members (b/c let’s be honest, they’re not given much of a choice in this regard due to the systematic oppression resulting from the current systems in place). I really enjoyed the elements of journalism in this book and the strong main character. Overall a really good read, but some parts are hard to get through. May be triggering for some readers 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, and Xenophobia

fictionaladventures's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense

3.5

This book was really hard to read but definitely important. I was FURIOUS 90% of the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Racism, Islamophobia, and Kidnapping

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Hollow Fires has arrived in the wake of the Trump era, in an environment of rampant misinformation and media bias, of white supremacist violence and “affluenza.”  This story follows Safiya, a Desi Muslim scholarship student and journalist-in-training at a private Chicago high school.  As editor-in-chief, she writes a social justice column for the school newspaper, but, as part of the school’s attempts to cover up a series of racist incidents in the community, she is being censored by the administration.  When a neighborhood Muslim boy goes missing, Safiya must race to piece together enough evidence to connect the dots and convince the police to do something, putting her own safety at risk.  Ahmed’s thriller illustrates diversity within Muslim communities, portrays the reality of police incompetence, and explores the nuances of modern white supremacy and hate crimes, for which there is no justice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Murder