Reviews with content warning for Rape - I, The Divine: A Novel in First Chapters

This book is brilliant. While the characters are flawed, I just came to love them in the way one loves their family. The form is genius and fits both the story and narrator perfectly. If you’re looking for good books with unique forms— this is it.
I will say that a lot of what I enjoyed was the form, although I did come to like the story as well. It wasn’t my favorite aspect of the book. I did learn quite a bit about a place I hadn’t known much about before, though, which was very interesting. I also found the ending a little lackluster.
[Note: some eh jokes & heed the content warning]

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akallabeth's review against another edition

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reflective sad 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

i'm pretty delighted by this novel's construction.

we are following sarah nour el-din, a lebanese-american woman, as she tries to write her memoirs. there's plenty to write about - her complicated family, growing up against the backdrop of the lebanese civil war, her messy love life - but sarah struggles to put it on paper. i, the divine is entirely composed of the first chapters sarah writes and then discards. over the course of the story, she attempts many different approaches, titles, styles, and even languages.

there's certainly a risk for something like this to come off gimmicky, but i thought the story was very cleverly constructed, and the 'shtick' was used to its full potential to slowly reveal new facets of both sarah herself and her family. i ended the novel very fond of them, which i can't say was strictly the case at the start.

i definitely had my issues with it (sarah's inner monologues have several incongruous moments of 'oh a man wrote this, right', i thought the very last chapter was kind of weak compared to the rest of it - to name a few) but overall i found it an enjoyable read, and it kept my attention.

(i will say that some of the blurbs/quotes from other authors/etc make this seem a little lighter than it in truth is; there's definitely funny moments and the overall tone is hopeful, but it's a pretty melancholy work, and deals with some heavy themes. 'civil war' and 'tense family situation' covers most bases, but i will specifically mention one thing, tw-wise:

Spoiler

there is a very graphic rape scene that goes on for several pages. i don't think it's fetishistically written or anything, but i'm also not convinced it was necessary to include.</spoiler)

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louisehowe's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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fatima13's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It was a rather interesting read. I liked the way it was written, and it perfectly reflected the main charater's state of mind. It also showed how oir memories can be different than reality. The writer did a great job crafting the charter.
However I have a couple of problems with the book. It could have been around 50 pages short; I got tired towards the end and felt as though there is nothing more to be added to the story. In addition, the amount of affairs mentioned is way too much, and they were never shown negatively. Personally, I don't like this of the fact that it reflects part of society.

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lapis's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Technically there are parts in French I didn't / couldn't read, so I feel awkward rating it. I recommend this book if you are in an emotional place to read it and <i>want</i> something difficult.

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whysoserious's review

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reflective sad medium-paced

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

Intriguing concept that failed in execution. The 1st chapter element seemed a take gimmicky, especially when the author veered off from that type of narrative toward the end. The story was reasonable, highlighting sense of individuality versus culture, loneliness versus family ties. Whilst I liked some aspects of the novel it could have easily been 50 pages shorter and been better off for it.

I did enjoy the fact it was written from the perspective of a Lebanese female which is certainly not something I would normally opt to read (even though the author was, surprisingly, male). That said Sarah (the protagonist) almost allows her family and her life to take over and she gets whisked away passively with little resistance. I did not feel a huge amount of sympathy/empathy for her and found her best friend much more engaging and relatable.

The story brings together multi-culturalism, a desire to find ones own identity and this was nicely woven through without being over powering. It is particularly interesting given how sense of identity is a constant theme in today's world of BLM, colonialism, generational trauma and the like. I must admit I could have done without the rape scene and this was clearly written by a man, there was a strong absence of empathy in the exploration of that event in Sarah's life.

There was no real resolution to the novel - the ending just sort of happened. That is fine but some may find such an ending a disappointment.

All in al it was a reasonably quick read, a tad gimmicky and didn't get the execution it really deserved. Distinctly average but a decent read if you find it in a second hand store.

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