Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Honra by Thrity Umrigar

83 reviews

bri_14's review against another edition

emotional tense

5.0

This book felt so important and balanced. The comparison between both leading ladies and how they dealt with love—with men and India—was done so well. One thing Smita and Meena had in common was they both were risk takers, punishment be damned. But I was gettin real annoyed with Ammi being so rude! She couldn’t get over

the loss of her son

Meena could! Very selfish even if it was rooted in valid emotions. 

I think it said A LOT about herd mentality esp among men. The amount of ppl that witnessed or participated in the violence was ridiculous. Only to wanna cower down years later and be sympathetic. The damage was done! And for Meena’s village to be ruled by Rupal was ridiculous. No one man should have all that pull over people. The fact that he said he had a phone with a direct line to God should have made these people wake up! He was taking advantage of their culture so bad. 

Despite the terribleness, the tender moments of Meena/Abdul and Smita/Mohan were so so good. Both really encapsulated the point of this book to me. In spite of the darkness their home brought there was a spark of light. In a twisted way Meena

might’ve been better off reunited with Abdul instead of with their daughter bc she didn’t have the resources or privilege to protect everybody. But her final stand was really sad

It wasn’t a main focus but it does bring up a good point of when involvement teeters past education and dips towards trauma porn. These are real people not a story that’ll get you front page headlines and awards. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Misogyny, Islamophobia, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

alexxis88's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

isabellew27's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

aziziansahar's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

In the beginning it was tough to read the way Smita described India, obviously it had to do with her experiences when she was young but it felt disdainful but at a very surface level. Almost as if the author was only trying to relate the flaws of India with the stereotypes that white audiences would easily grasp. As someone from the Middle East/ South Asia crossroads, I understand the complicated and nuanced feelings that come with being from there while raised in the West, and a lot of times felt like I could relate to how Smita felt but a lot of her criticisms really pushed a western centric narrative… which I guess was the point. I just think Smita’s perspective was a little unrealistic of someone who was an Indian American. While I was reading what she had to say about India towards the beginning of the book it just read as a white girl who doesn’t understand the culture, but Smita is Indian and spent her childhood and a bit of her teenage life there. You can dislike and hate your country of origin but I just think it would come with less of an ignorant attitude towards it. 

I was very interested with Meena’s story as well which I applaud the author for. Dual perspective stories tend to fall flat on one perspective for me so I’m typically impressed when all parts of the story keep me intrigued. I know the events that happened in the story happen more often than we think and they deserve more attention. I’m happy to read books with diverse characters and ones that I felt connected to myself as a POC. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

genesismt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Sexual harassment

avajane02's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

An absolutely heartbreaking look into the class and gender divides in India from the perspective of a

Muslim

Indian-American reporter who returns to India to cover a story in place of her white American friend/coworker, who is recovering from surgery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

sissizc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

wwsimon93's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent

muse692's review against another edition

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

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Islamophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, and Death of parent

jessv's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I was surprised by my reaction to this book given the average star rating being very high. This book feels like white saviour poverty porn, despite the author and the protagonist having grown up in India (before moving to the USA) and despite the protagonist wondering at one point if she herself is perpetuating poverty porn by covering Meena's story for an American newspaper. Many of the Indian characters in this story are given very little dignity or agency. The protagonist is so disparaging about the country as a whole - which I understand comes from a traumatic incident she experienced as a child - but ultimately it feels like this book is a disservice to the very real and important issues that occur in India. It's possible to describe horrible crimes against women or religious conflict without dialogue like "what is wrong with this backwards country?" I think it wouldve been more effective from the perspective of someone living there (eg Meena's chapters). The only positive was an easy-to-read writing style and a fast-paced story that I finished quickly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault