imyerhero's review against another edition
4.0
Jemorah and Melvina Ramoud have been raised by their father – a Jordanian American man whose love for the drums is the only thing that can dampen his grief for his late wife. Now in their 20′s, Jem and Melvie are a source of constant worry to their aunts, who long to see them married off to a nice Arabian man. Jem is brilliantly intelligent but lacks the motivation to do much with her life, working as a secretary in the same hospital as her father and sister. Melvie is a highly driven nurse, who takes no guff from her patients or her family and friends, she is as stubborn and powerful as a force of nature. As different family members travel from Jordan to assist in the attempts to find men for these women, Jem and Melvie and their father, must come to terms with who they are and who their family is. The girls must struggle to define themselves – are they Arabian or American? Or can they be both? And they must forgive themselves for what happened to their mother – who was with both of them the night she died. Along their path of healing and learning, other family members are drawn in and given a chance to forgive themselves for ancient wrongs and misdeeds.
I didn’t really have a great reason for picking this book up, mostly because we were trying to take as many books from the library as we could to help them move and this sounded vaguely interesting. The basis for the story (finding your racial identity or dealing with the death of your mother) wasn’t very pertinent for me but I still found both Jemorah and Melvina enthralling as characters. The storytelling was lovely and lyrical, with portions of such beautiful prose that it could have been considered poetry.
You could call this book a novel without a conclusive ending – it isn’t wrapped up all neat and tidy like a Jane Austen novel. But it still is satisfying. All throughout the story, there’s a frantic and unhappy and unsettled tone. But the ending is mellow and peaceful, and you see that it’s the perfect way for you to leave the family.
I didn’t really have a great reason for picking this book up, mostly because we were trying to take as many books from the library as we could to help them move and this sounded vaguely interesting. The basis for the story (finding your racial identity or dealing with the death of your mother) wasn’t very pertinent for me but I still found both Jemorah and Melvina enthralling as characters. The storytelling was lovely and lyrical, with portions of such beautiful prose that it could have been considered poetry.
You could call this book a novel without a conclusive ending – it isn’t wrapped up all neat and tidy like a Jane Austen novel. But it still is satisfying. All throughout the story, there’s a frantic and unhappy and unsettled tone. But the ending is mellow and peaceful, and you see that it’s the perfect way for you to leave the family.
lizmart88's review against another edition
2.0
I was a big fan of Crescent, but I did not love this book nearly as much. This definitely felt like a first novel, and I think Abu-Jaber's later novels are vastly improved.
Overall, the themes were excellent, and similar to her later novels. It is an exploration of what it means to be "half" - in this case half Arab and half white; and what it means to live in between cultures. I enjoyed the role reversal of the younger sister being more dominant, and the older sister being the daydreaming, flighty one. All of the characters were eccentric, and I felt like I should relate to them - but I just couldn't get invested in their lives.
Some of the characters felt a little too far-fetched. It felt a little unbelievable that Jem would even consider running away with Gil Sesame. And the Otts family felt too stereotypical of a family entrenched in poverty.
In summary: read Crescent and her later novels!
Overall, the themes were excellent, and similar to her later novels. It is an exploration of what it means to be "half" - in this case half Arab and half white; and what it means to live in between cultures. I enjoyed the role reversal of the younger sister being more dominant, and the older sister being the daydreaming, flighty one. All of the characters were eccentric, and I felt like I should relate to them - but I just couldn't get invested in their lives.
Some of the characters felt a little too far-fetched. It felt a little unbelievable that Jem would even consider running away with Gil Sesame. And the Otts family felt too stereotypical of a family entrenched in poverty.
In summary: read Crescent and her later novels!
el_entrenador_loco's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
3.75
theresa_who's review against another edition
2.0
I got this after reading and loving the authors' novel "Crescent". This was good, just not as good. I think if I'd read it first I would have liked it more.
buttermellow's review against another edition
1.0
Although the other books by this author I love, this one fell short. It didn't have a clear plot, and it tried to tell the stories of too many people. It was a compendium of thoughts and events occurring everywhere over a span of time, and it was just too much. No one character was developed enough, instead each was developed a mediocre amount. The book ended up dragging on with no focus.
terryliz's review
2.0
Last year, I read two of Diana Abu-Jaber's novels and one of her memoirs and thoroughly enjoyed them all. Her descriptive writing style, especially when involving food and cooking, was pure prose. "Arabian Jazz" was her first novel and I just cannot get into it. I'm 237 pages in and I think that's where I'll leave it. The story is about two motherless, Jordanian-American sisters in their late 20's whose aunt is worried that she'll never get them married off. One sister is very focused and outspoken and the other is very unsure of herself. Their forays into dating are just rather silly and some of the characters that surround them seem to just fade in and out. Disappointing.
anna_wa's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
- 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? Yes
2.75
2.9 stars
Based on the summary, this book is supposedly about a character named Jemorah figuring out who she is. Well, I gotta tell you, after reading 374 pages about her and her family, I know just as much about who she is as when I started: nothing.
I could tell you who her sister Melvina is, I could tell you who her father Matussem is, I could tell you who her aunt Fatima is, and I could tell you about who all of her acquaintances are - but not who she is.
The first 1/2 of the book had me in a constant state of confusion. I couldn't tell what was going on at all other than the fact that Jemorah's aunt wants to set her up with men and Melvina is trying to help patients. If this were a book I had been reading on my own, and not because it was assigned to me in class, I would have stopped there, but since it was assigned reading, I kept going.
Finally, in the second half, things start actually making some sense and being interesting. However, Jemorah is not one of the interesting things. She barely talks and we also barely see any of her thoughts for that matter. Melvina, Matussem, and Fatima are all more of a main character than she is; they are constantly talking for her, and she doesn't seem to object to them doing so during the majority of the book.
And this book is supposedly about Jemorah trying to figure out who she is, whether she is Arabian or American, and what she wants in life, but we don't see that until 2/3 of the book has already happened. And that last 2/3 was so interesting - but it's so late in the book that it's hard to hold onto. Not only that but the author keeps bringing up things that never get addressed later on, as well as saying one thing and then doing the other.
The ending was so unsatisfying, as well. We have no clue what Jemorah is going to do next - it's implied that she's going to go to school, but she doesn't actually say it. I have read books that have successfully ended with a conclusion that didn't give us all the answers but made us feel like it was still a wholesome ending; this is not one of them at all.
The heart of this story is great, and the characters - other than Jemorah - are so interesting and fun to listen to. I just feel like this author needed more time to make this book into what it could be. This does not feel at all like the final draft of the book. In my opinion, the author should have cut out the majority of the first half and fleshed out the second half more to make the second half shine. She also has multiple parts of the story that should have either been removed all together OR fleshed out and resolved like the part where Jemorah catches Melvina having sex with Larry and then it's just never mentioned again???.
I like a lot of things about this book but it needed more time and editing before it could be its best.
Based on the summary, this book is supposedly about a character named Jemorah figuring out who she is. Well, I gotta tell you, after reading 374 pages about her and her family, I know just as much about who she is as when I started: nothing.
I could tell you who her sister Melvina is, I could tell you who her father Matussem is, I could tell you who her aunt Fatima is, and I could tell you about who all of her acquaintances are - but not who she is.
The first 1/2 of the book had me in a constant state of confusion. I couldn't tell what was going on at all other than the fact that Jemorah's aunt wants to set her up with men and Melvina is trying to help patients. If this were a book I had been reading on my own, and not because it was assigned to me in class, I would have stopped there, but since it was assigned reading, I kept going.
Finally, in the second half, things start actually making some sense and being interesting. However, Jemorah is not one of the interesting things. She barely talks and we also barely see any of her thoughts for that matter. Melvina, Matussem, and Fatima are all more of a main character than she is; they are constantly talking for her, and she doesn't seem to object to them doing so during the majority of the book.
And this book is supposedly about Jemorah trying to figure out who she is, whether she is Arabian or American, and what she wants in life, but we don't see that until 2/3 of the book has already happened. And that last 2/3 was so interesting - but it's so late in the book that it's hard to hold onto. Not only that but the author keeps bringing up things that never get addressed later on, as well as saying one thing and then doing the other.
The ending was so unsatisfying, as well. We have no clue what Jemorah is going to do next - it's implied that she's going to go to school, but she doesn't actually say it. I have read books that have successfully ended with a conclusion that didn't give us all the answers but made us feel like it was still a wholesome ending; this is not one of them at all.
The heart of this story is great, and the characters - other than Jemorah - are so interesting and fun to listen to. I just feel like this author needed more time to make this book into what it could be. This does not feel at all like the final draft of the book. In my opinion, the author should have cut out the majority of the first half and fleshed out the second half more to make the second half shine. She also has multiple parts of the story that should have either been removed all together OR fleshed out and resolved like the part where Jemorah catches Melvina having sex with Larry and then it's just never mentioned again???.
I like a lot of things about this book but it needed more time and editing before it could be its best.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Racism
Moderate: Abortion, Genocide, Xenophobia, and Child death
Minor: Ableism
Use of the R word (ableist slur)srsneve's review against another edition
2.0
I guess I kept reading because I liked the characters, but other than that I found the book disappointing. It seemed like the author was trying to tell too many different stories, so while some were very good, it felt like they didn't get enough attention to do them justice. There was also a plot twist or two (if you can call them plot twists when the story lacks a clear plot) that was so random and out-of-nowhere that it felt forced and unnecessary, instead of feeling surprising and driving the story forward.
_zora_'s review
4.0
Beautifully written, and hilarious. The redneck neighbors are perhaps a little over the top, but that is hugely offset by the vividness of many of the main characters. There's a certain "Confederacy of Dunces" air to some of the comic scenes--but fortunately this book engages with meaty issues much more than CoD did.
theresidentbookworm's review
3.0
A Short Review from a Tired English Major
I actually finished it for class, and I didn't hate it so I guess it's good. I don't know. All the books I read this semester blend together in a haze in my head.
I actually finished it for class, and I didn't hate it so I guess it's good. I don't know. All the books I read this semester blend together in a haze in my head.