Reviews

O by Zeina Hashem Beck

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macksanders20's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

atcucchetti's review against another edition

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5.0

A collection that revolves around intergenerational relationships and crafting life and community of many threads and experiences. A book I’d like to read in print rather than the ebook I borrowed from the library. The English and Arabic play together to craft independent and collaborative poetry. In print it would be easier to Google translate my way through the Arabic.

I appreciated learning about ghazal as a poetry form and was fascinated by the triptych format.

Poems that left me struck by the absolute tender intimacy: those moments with her husband; with her daughter. An intimacy that invites and weighs heavily resonant with feeling and meaning. Always treading the delicate balance between celebrating the beautiful joys in order to provide a bastion against the loss of stability and place and home in Lebanon.

biobeetle's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

Content Warnings

bookwormdaily's review

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3.0

“how we measure time with pain but not without tenderness”

this book is very unique and interesting. especially the english and arabic poems in the same sentences, i think it adds more emotional and meaningful taste to the topic.

it’s about women, family, god, faith, the country they try to rebuild, and life that they mourn over. it is very personal and intimate. i do feel the emotion in some of the poems, but in other poems, i felt so uncomfortable especially when they talked about Christianity, and described it off-topic out of the faith that i understand.