displacedcactus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
This book has a very slow start, but once I got into it, I was really sucked into the dual timelines and finding the parallels and connections between them. It's definitely literary in its scope and tone, but with some fantastic elements. It's a bit of a ghost story, but in a sad way rather than a scary way. It's a bit of a coming of age story, a reminder that sometimes we don't get the chance to truly come into ourselves until sometime in adulthood. It's about family, both blood and chosen. And it's also about birds and art and race and gender and religion and so many important things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Dysphoria
Moderate: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Animal death, Death of parent, Transphobia, Sexism, and Racism
The main character is frequently misgendered, since he is not "out" for most of the book, but his deadname never appears on the page. Most of the transphobia is of the "I don't get it" sort from clueless but loving family members, rather than acts of hate and violence. The story also deals with the displacement of immigrant communities to make way for "progress" in the form of infrastructure that "has" to run through their neighborhoods.madzie's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Joukhadar is one of the most beautiful writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Every word in this novel is stitched together in the most ornate tapestry. Poetic and made with gold, every sentence feels exactly like it does to breathe. Beyond the writing, this book fits together beautifully, the plot moving along like a river, with introspective characters that weave together to tell themes about life.
My favorite part of this book was how Joukhadar explores transness, gender, and queerness with beautiful insights and understandings. He boldly tells stories of how queer people have always existed and will always exist despite being silenced or staying silent for protection. With a large cast of queer characters, I love how the book deals with how other people see queerness and how it is a fight to be one’s authentic self. The nuances of how queerness is viewed in society and then in smaller relationships with friends and family is masterfully detailed as Joukhadar demonstrates how people can react to it, thinking that you owe them something, but how we have to journey to accept that we only owe it to ourselves to be authentically us. Then, Joukhadar takes this a step further to connect to the intersectionality of oppression and what the majority of society believes those they have put under them should be. Despite this, Joukhadar reminds his readers of hope and the courage of fighting for oneself, one's identity, and what one believes in. In the end, he highlights lessons, purposes, and identities that are highly important for us to consider and carry with us in our lives.
Other deep and profound themes are handled wonderfully in this novel, exploring grief and moving on, as well as how humans continue to affect one another, the appreciativeness of what we take for granted, and the beautiful connection of humanity to nature, reminding us that nothing ever truly fits into a box. All of these interact with each other to show us how magnificent life can be and how we become who we are.
I could go on and on about this novel, but the bottom line is: read it; it's stunning.
My favorite part of this book was how Joukhadar explores transness, gender, and queerness with beautiful insights and understandings. He boldly tells stories of how queer people have always existed and will always exist despite being silenced or staying silent for protection. With a large cast of queer characters, I love how the book deals with how other people see queerness and how it is a fight to be one’s authentic self. The nuances of how queerness is viewed in society and then in smaller relationships with friends and family is masterfully detailed as Joukhadar demonstrates how people can react to it, thinking that you owe them something, but how we have to journey to accept that we only owe it to ourselves to be authentically us. Then, Joukhadar takes this a step further to connect to the intersectionality of oppression and what the majority of society believes those they have put under them should be. Despite this, Joukhadar reminds his readers of hope and the courage of fighting for oneself, one's identity, and what one believes in. In the end, he highlights lessons, purposes, and identities that are highly important for us to consider and carry with us in our lives.
Other deep and profound themes are handled wonderfully in this novel, exploring grief and moving on, as well as how humans continue to affect one another, the appreciativeness of what we take for granted, and the beautiful connection of humanity to nature, reminding us that nothing ever truly fits into a box. All of these interact with each other to show us how magnificent life can be and how we become who we are.
I could go on and on about this novel, but the bottom line is: read it; it's stunning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Death
Moderate: Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual content
quinnyquinnquinn's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Islamophobia
Moderate: Transphobia and Homophobia
Minor: Death
dianna_reads's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
madscientistcat's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Xenophobia
noah_silver's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
I liked the two interwoven timelines, the development and growth of the two main characters & their different voices, the different kinds of queerness coming up during the story - and the focus on & omnipresence of birds in the lives of the characters.
However, at some points I found it a bit slow and am still confused about some turns of the story. It might be due to listening to it as an audio book and maybe not catching everything. I was also not completely convinced of the audio book narrator's styles.
However, at some points I found it a bit slow and am still confused about some turns of the story. It might be due to listening to it as an audio book and maybe not catching everything. I was also not completely convinced of the audio book narrator's styles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Racism, Animal death, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
Minor: Miscarriage, Homophobia, Child death, Transphobia, and War
Description of menstruation; gyn appointmentwhitedaylilies's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
caidyn's review
emotional
hopeful
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
A heartfelt book dealing with grief, identity, and the past. I loved the links all tying it together. Queerness throughout the ages and how LGBTQ+ Muslims have always been there. I'm very glad I picked this up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Transphobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, and Homophobia
rexpostfacto's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Zeyn Joukhadar amazes once again. Their writing always reaches into my soul and leaves fingerprints.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
jojo_'s review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Cancer, and Homophobia
Minor: Transphobia, Deadnaming, War, and Dementia