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yavin_iv's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, and Vomit
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Genocide, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Alcohol
marabdelmageed's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is a masterpiece. It is beautifully written, thought provoking, and it stirs up deep emotions. It is, most importantly, such an amazing critique of the refugee crisis. Not only is this work impactful on the individual reader, but it truly has the potential to impact a generation. This is the kind of book that should be taught in schools.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Islamophobia
Moderate: Child death, Death, Vomit, Trafficking, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
morriganslibrary's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death and War
Minor: Pregnancy
jayisreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
When the news came out that El Akkad was coming out with a new book, I was pretty excited considering that I enjoyed his debut novel. In What Strange Paradise, he delivered an even stronger story and proved himself to be an incredibly versatile writer, as the style and structure of this book is rather different from American War. Even in What Strange Paradise, though, you can tell his journalist background informed a lot of his writing choices.
This isn’t the first migrant “crisis” book to have been written. I think of Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, for example, which had far more fantastical elements to it than What Strange Paradise, though El Akkad adds a dusting of it. I think the greatest takeaway from this book is how El Akkad challenges the positionality of the privileged reader—specifically the Western audience—to rethink our understanding of borders and migration. Perhaps the most uncomfortable part of this book is that the “antagonists” (Kethros, and I’d make an argument for Mohamed as well) are actually the ones who reveal the truth of our privilege and fraudulence. Of course, this is deeply unsettling to the reader, since we want to be on the good side. We want to be there for the young boy, Amir, and support him, wish nothing more than for him to get a happy ending. And, in a way, we’re promised this through young Vänna, who is a savior of sorts who does what she can to help the boy escape the island he was stranded on. However, this fantasy of seeing everything come together starts unravelling towards the end, with El Akkad calling out the Western reader and their position in the world… through Kethros, no less:
But you should know what you are. … You are the temporary object of their fraudulent outrage, their fraudulent grief. They will march the streets on your behalf, they will write to politicians on your behalf, they will cry on your behalf, but you are to them in the end nothing but a hook on which to hang the best possible image of themselves. Today you are the only boy in the world and tomorrow it will be as though you never existed.
It’s not to say our outrage is in complete vain, but it really makes you wonder just how we’re thinking about the many injustices in this world. How much of it is to see the best possible image of ourselves? How much of it is writing out the story we want to hear? What Strange Paradise is well worth picking up for its complexity and the challenge it presents to the reader. It certainly can read as a bittersweet novel, but this is definitely one that you want to sit on and really think about your positionality in this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Xenophobia
Moderate: War
deandra_lalonde's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racism, Violence, Islamophobia, and War
holly_h_b_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Beautifully written, with an enthralling story that hooks you in from the first few pages. Absolutely marvellous!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, and War