peachani's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Islamophobia and Racism
Minor: Violence, War, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Sexism, and Sexual content
lanosmith5's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and War
Moderate: Racism
steveatwaywords's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Any writer makes a contract with a reader at the start of a work: the reader promises a sincere effort to read; the writer promises value in its completion. This could not have paid off more handsomely, more profoundly, than in this novel.
Our main characters are real, fitting inconveniently into their fictional culture as one does, in communities ruptured as often happens, and made refugees, migrants, as too many are. The novel works, then, as a dialogue between the micro (the relationship between Saeed and Nadia) and the macro (a world compelled to confront the immigrant experience): relationships of choice and of compulsion. Fittingly, and without spoilers, Hamid's closing chapters pull these together in poetic epiphany for us, even if all his characters never quite get it.
Accept the character asides, accept the narrator's distanced omniscience, accept the conceit which propels the novel into its collisions--what awaits is little less than the collective responsibility we all have as readers and dwellers.
Why not five stars? If anything, Hamid is too modest in his ambition, in the depths of his explorations, opting instead for a quickly told short work which might do more still than call the question.
Our main characters are real, fitting inconveniently into their fictional culture as one does, in communities ruptured as often happens, and made refugees, migrants, as too many are. The novel works, then, as a dialogue between the micro (the relationship between Saeed and Nadia) and the macro (a world compelled to confront the immigrant experience): relationships of choice and of compulsion. Fittingly, and without spoilers, Hamid's closing chapters pull these together in poetic epiphany for us, even if all his characters never quite get it.
Accept the character asides, accept the narrator's distanced omniscience, accept the conceit which propels the novel into its collisions--what awaits is little less than the collective responsibility we all have as readers and dwellers.
Why not five stars? If anything, Hamid is too modest in his ambition, in the depths of his explorations, opting instead for a quickly told short work which might do more still than call the question.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Racism, and Death of parent
cerilouisereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Racism, and War
readwriteknit's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Islamophobia, War, Racism, Murder, and Xenophobia
sarahdoggen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Such an interesting book, I loved to see all the different perspectives on the topic of migration. Definitely strong characters, and a good, well constructed plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Classism, Grief, Racism, Violence, War, and Gun violence
lianne_rooney's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, War, Hate crime, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
Minor: Grief and Death of parent
wordsareworlds's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5
Exit West was a thought-provoking read that I enjoyed immensely. Hamid wielded tension and emotions so well, and while the pace is slow it felt perfectly matched to the story and character development. The alternate, intersecting paths of religion and traditional beliefs and independent exploration were both handled with respect and nuance that I appreciated. The parallels to current real-world events and attitudes are impossible to ignore, but Hamid has told a story that ends in hope more than sadness.
I also found the layers of storytelling Hamid used very interesting. There is Saeed and Nadia's relationship, and one step out we get to know a bit about people who intersect their lives and often how those people die or another detail from their future, and then also more about the war that has now most definitely come to their city, and then snippets of separate, apparently unrelated events around the world. There is a surreal quality to Hamid's descriptions. They simultaneously feel a step removed and immediate. All of this is related as past events, and without much explicit or long description of the characters' feelings, but the events and their actions make those feelings abundantly clear and impactful. I spent a lot of time thinking about why Hamid chose to give us glimpses into specific moments in Saeed and Nadia's lives, and which side characters he chose to give us more details about. Each choice felt very deliberate and like it built on what was going on around them in a complex and nuanced way.
The book overall was very interesting, and the ways that the doors changed some things about immigration and otherness and not others were layered and complex. I enjoyed Saeed, Nadia, and the evolution of their relationship. Also very, very happy about having a bi South Asian MC whose sexuality wasn't a source of angst or persecution. The book has a sense of ebb and flow about it, and that neither happiness nor sadness is all-encompassing or static, and the doors don't change that but make both more accessible and immediate to people's lives.
I also found the layers of storytelling Hamid used very interesting. There is Saeed and Nadia's relationship, and one step out we get to know a bit about people who intersect their lives and often how those people die or another detail from their future, and then also more about the war that has now most definitely come to their city, and then snippets of separate, apparently unrelated events around the world. There is a surreal quality to Hamid's descriptions. They simultaneously feel a step removed and immediate. All of this is related as past events, and without much explicit or long description of the characters' feelings, but the events and their actions make those feelings abundantly clear and impactful. I spent a lot of time thinking about why Hamid chose to give us glimpses into specific moments in Saeed and Nadia's lives, and which side characters he chose to give us more details about. Each choice felt very deliberate and like it built on what was going on around them in a complex and nuanced way.
The book overall was very interesting, and the ways that the doors changed some things about immigration and otherness and not others were layered and complex. I enjoyed Saeed, Nadia, and the evolution of their relationship. Also very, very happy about having a bi South Asian MC whose sexuality wasn't a source of angst or persecution. The book has a sense of ebb and flow about it, and that neither happiness nor sadness is all-encompassing or static, and the doors don't change that but make both more accessible and immediate to people's lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Racism and War
sydapel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Stunningly intimate writing that describes a society that feels foreign and yet darkly prescient, I have that empty-yet-full feeling I often get when I finish a book like this. Often, I am annoyed with literary fiction authors who try to comment on too much within a book, but Hamid manages to discuss war, refugees, capitalism, religion, family dynamics, the collapse of society, climate change and probably more that went straight over my head, all within the core story of a relationship that will remain with me for awhile.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Hate crime, Death, and War
Moderate: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, and Islamophobia
lynneliu's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: War, Drug use, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual harassment and Racism