Reviews tagging 'War'

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

16 reviews

danielnski's review

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A fantastic meditation on war, the people war displaces, and the people who receive them, all while being quite briskly paced and concise. There are so many moments and passages that I flagged for myself to come back to or reflect on because the prose is so beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Gun violence, Trafficking, Grief, and War

butlerebecca's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Really enjoyed this - I wish there was more character development and there were a few vague details I would have liked to see clarified but regardless 100% recommend this —  a very quick read with some beautiful prose and an excellent message

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Vomit, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Alcoholism

blueteacup's review

challenging informative reflective sad 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? No

4.5

 What Strange Paradise is a challenging novel about the migrant crisis currently happening around the world, specifically tackling migrants from Southwest Asia and North Africa trying to come to Europe.  El Akkad uses alternating perspectives between a Syrian child refugee and a Greek teenager to both emphasize cultural and linguistic differences and to portray themes of finding mutual understanding despite these differences.

El Akkad is expertly able to enter the mind of a child and explain what the world looks like to a young boy who is in an unfamiliar place all alone, fleeing from war and strife.  He uses fine details to express Amir’s desire to go home despite having no home to go back to, without blatantly stating the obvious.  He also uses a wide cast of minor characters to explore differing perspectives on migration and refugee status.  From a pregnant migrant woman still desperately trying to hold onto her morals and dignity when it seems everyone else has lost theirs, to a racist colonel afraid of white replacement, El Akkad is able to delve into each character’s mind and portray three-dimensional individuals.

My only gripe with the novel was I found it a bit hard to keep track of all of the characters on the migrant boat, as many were introduced all at once with little intro.

Overall, What Strange Paradise is a very well-written and insightful novel about migration and refugees, with interesting, well-rounded characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: War

Minor: Antisemitism

bookishcori's review

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Police brutality

Minor: War

galexy_brain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I am the hopeful, privileged reader, but I didn’t realize until the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, and War

Minor: Confinement, Racism, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

laur_o's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, and War

arnold_shelby's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

This is a moving exploration of humans seeking better futures, of people supporting one another, of tragedy as a normal, daily occurrence that white people turn off on a whim. Challenging and biting, hopeful, and painful all at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia

Minor: Vomit and War

daniellekat's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

I am speechless. This was incredible. The writing was so powerful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, and Trafficking

Moderate: Confinement and War

kassidypf13's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Abandonment, and War

devin_reads_books's review

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Xenophobia, Abandonment, and War