Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

8 reviews

nataliecoyne's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Words cannot express how much I loved this book. It is such an easy 5 stars and I now really admire Marjan Kamali's writing. I loved her other book that I read, <i>The Lion Women of Tehran</i>, but it's entirely possible that I loved this one even more. The story is so beautiful, albeit tragic at times. And it felt very <i>real.</i> It didn't feel like I was watching some cheesy romance movie.

At first, I didn't really understand the decision to include a romance between Ali and [name I'm not including to avoid spoilers], when I read the chapter with introducing that romance at the beginning of part 2 I was like "okay, this is random??" But, by the end, it made a lot of sense.

I absolutely would recommend this to others. Easy 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Islamophobia, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and War

medini_l's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Abortion

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Classism

talasa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Rape

angada's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? No

4.75

So powertul. 

So moving. 

So beautifully written! 

Your heart will be broken and your box of tissues will be empty.
 

I had to physically stop reading for a bit because my heart couldn't take it anymore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, and Violence

kailiyahknight's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and War

valrunin's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence and Abortion

Minor: Cancer

sydneywhite's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault and Blood

Minor: Chronic illness

megelizabeth's review against another edition

2.0

This book pains me a little to review, because it has so many elements that I loved, but ultimately its flaws are too significant to merit a higher rating. The writing is brilliant, the sense of place and time is incredible, and there are so many great discussions about cultural differences, the reality of immigrant life, and the roles and expectations of women in Iran and the US. It presents a much more nuanced look at 1950s life than the stereotyped version you often see, and I just adored the sprawling, layered narrative and everything it has to say about love, loss, politics, and familial and societal expectations.

However, there are two things about this book that I just cannot forgive. The first is that it celebrates a character who grooms a child, and the second is that its representation of a mentally ill character feels lazy and one-dimensional and made me very uncomfortable. I'm not saying that mentally ill people can never be bad people, but to present the only mentally ill character as such and to leave very little space for any slight expectation of why they act the way they do is just irresponsible in my opinion. This book could've been incredible if these two elements had been dealt with differently, but instead I was just left feeling thoroughly frustrated and disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual harassment