Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

The Thirty Names of Night, by Zeyn Joukhadar

29 reviews

laurenleigh's review

challenging dark reflective 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? No

5.0

Absolutely brilliant. I was rather blown away by this book. It tells a dual narrative, one in present day New York and one in the 20’s or 30’s, of a Syrian immigrant to NY. Both stories were gorgeously deep queer narratives, full of loss, discovery, and finding your true identity in a world that most often seeks to erase you. The intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and immigration status are a heady mix that feels a bit overwhelming at time, but it gave me a valuable bit of insight into lives so different from my own. I highly recommend print or ebook format here. I think an important unfolding of the plot is lost in audio, though I can’t say more without spoilers! 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia

Moderate: Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Death of parent, and Racism

danaaliyalevinson's review

challenging dark 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? No

4.5

I liked this book a lot! I’m a sucker for a generational story, which are also really hard to pull off well. I think this book has a few contrivances between the two depicted generations but largely pulls off a satisfying conclusion. The prose is beautiful. And as a trans person reading it, the relationship especially between Nadir and Sami was so beautifully rendered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Transphobia

rmperezpadilla's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Islamophobia, Transphobia, and Racism

whitedaylilies's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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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.

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Racism, Medical content, Transphobia, Sexism, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Islamophobia, and Hate crime

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual harassment

eharms3's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

I think this is the most beautiful book I’ve read, thus far in my life. The writing, the story, all of it. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Transphobia, Terminal illness, Hate crime, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

rorikae's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

'The Thirty Names of Night' by Zeyn Joukhadar is an exquisite story about identity, birds, and belonging.
The story weaves between two narratives. The first follows a Syrian American trans boy struggling after the death of his mother. Longing to be his full self, he paints murals at night. One night he comes across the journal of a Syrian American artist who may have encountered the same rare bird as one that his mother saw as well. Haunted by the ghost of his mother, he searches for what happened to this artist who disappeared years ago. As he searches for what happened to her, we also get to experience her journals and the story of how she came to America and became a painter. As both stories progress they become more and more entangled. 
Joukhadar's storytelling is beautiful. His prose is lush, conjuring up the worlds of both of his protagonists. We come to fall in love with the birds that Nadir and Laila experience as we also come to care deeply for each of the characters. They stand as one of the incredibly strong parts of this book. Flawed and deeply human, both are searching for where they belong, parallel stories across time. 
As someone who loves birds and art, Joukhadar does a wonderful job of painting a picture with his words that makes the reader feel as if they are right beside the characters. This is truly a beautiful book and one that I think everyone should read. The audiobook is phenomenal and the two narrators do a great job of capturing the emotions behind both of the characters. I will definitely be checking out more of Joukhadar's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Transphobia, Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Deadnaming

Minor: Sexual content

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

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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