Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

7 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. 

---

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

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Injury/Injury detail

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

lanid's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Police brutality, Body shaming, and Homophobia

dylweed's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death

lindsayerin's review

dark funny reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Police brutality and Drug use

Minor: Suicide attempt

thalassaio's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Police brutality, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Islamophobia

leahsbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

After reading Persepolis 1, I couldn't wait for this to arrive at the library, so that I could find out what happened in Marjane's life. 

Book 1 left off on a bit of a cliffhanger. Marjane had just left the repressive regime of Iran (and her parents) to head to Austria and finish her schooling there. It felt like she was trapped in a no-win situation. Staying in Iran gave her the family support that she's always relied on, but was slowly crushing her spirit by forcing her to bend to a religious regime that was stripping away personal freedoms and her ability to express her brilliant mind. However, as she found out quickly, Austria wasn't everything she had hoped it would be. While she had more freedom to express herself, both physically and philosophically, there was a definite culture clash. Marjane experienced racism and a complete lack of emotional support for the first time in her life. 

Adolescence is a rough time for so many people, and I couldn't even imagine going through not just the physical changes, but the emotional changes as well, while living in a place without my family and a core group of friends who fully accept you and understand you at a deep level. I empathized so deeply with what Marjane went through, and was so impressed with the strength that she was able to display. 

Even with everything that she went through, she demonstrated an ability to take in wisdom that was offered, and fortunately, her family members gave her enough room to make her own mistakes, trusting that she would learn from them. The drawings were stark, with the black and white format, but I thought that it fit the story perfectly. This is definitely a memoir that was well suited for a graphic novel format, and it will stick with me for a long time. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Racism