Reviews tagging 'War'

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

18 reviews

strawberrytheauthor's review

challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

The second part of Marjane Satrapi’s life. In this memoir she discusses her journey in Europe, the events that led her back to Iran, and eventually to France. 

I really enjoyed reading this book. I love the format, if I had to choose one format for memoirs to read forever it would be graphic novels. It gives the reader a unique experience to see more than words and adds to the identification with the main character. Having this book and her first in graphic novel format helped me to see and understand what her life was truly like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Islamophobia, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Confinement, Misogyny, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content, War, Grief, Infidelity, and Gun violence

Minor: Murder and Medical content

siobhanward's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

 If I had any major complaint about this book, it would be that there is no third part to follow Satrapi into the present day. I was so engrossed in her life that the sudden cut off with her departure for France felt jarring. I know a great deal has happened in her life since then and would love to know more, but I also understand I'm not entitled to the content of peoples' lives.

That aside, this was a great follow up to the first volume. Often sequels fall short of the first story, but this was a great example of one that was just as strong, if not stronger. Satrapi's stories of navigating a move to Europe, finding her place in the world, moving back to Iran, becoming an adult and figuring out what her life could look like was so well-told. I feel as though I know so little about Iran's history, but Satrapi is able to bring readers up to speed without overwhelming you with information. Absolutely a great read and I wish there had been more. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Drug use, and War

lizzie24601's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Satrapi is a great cartoonist and memoirist. She balances very well between detailing the emotions and faults of her youth and providing added context in hindsight. There's something here for every reader to relate to (regarding this coming of age), as well as a lot to learn about life in 1980s-90s Iran.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Police brutality, Violence, Drug abuse, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death, Torture, Xenophobia, War, and Alcohol

kaypringle's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

This Book touched me in a different way than the first. The first shocked and informed me as I didn’t fully understand the effects and lives of those in Iran, I’ve only heard bits and pieces and seen news stories. This one continued to form my world view but I also found it more relatable; I felt closer and more empathetic to Satrapi, and maybe this was just from having the amazing context from the first book, but I felt that she was more human instead of just someone behind these pages. She shared her growth but her struggles as well - her success and courage but her fear and cowardice were all brought to the forefront of these pages, she was someone who made mistakes but also someone who learned from them to do better in each new chapter of her life. It is through this that the message of education being one of the most impactful ways to grow truly touched my heart and made me absolutely adore this book. I hope everyone has a chance to read this, of all ages too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Islamophobia, and Violence

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi was a continuation of the stories we got to see in the first edition. This book continued to press the boundaries of what it means to grow up in the middle of a war. This book dove a little deeper into the impact of the war on Marjane, and how it affected her development as she got older. I think these two books paint an incredibly important picture of the personal hardships suffered by individuals in war torn countries. These books deal beautiful with the complex and challenging emotions they bring up, and I think that reading the pair is well worth everyone’s time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, War, Sexism, Genocide, and Misogyny

cozy_academic's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Gun violence, Death, Police brutality, Drug use, War, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content

dylweed's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, War, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death

lottiegasp's review against another edition

emotional funny informative sad medium-paced

4.25

This graphic novel memoir depicts the author fleeing war in Iran to live in Europe as a teenager, and her experiences of culture shock, xenophobia and loneliness, followed by her return to Iran and struggles living under the fundamentalist regime. Like in the first novel, she is skilled at juxtaposing the banality of everyday life against the terrors of war and oppression.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and War

onewoman_bookclub's review

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Minor: Fatphobia

jessthanthree's review

emotional funny informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and War