Reviews tagging 'Blood'

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

100 reviews

czoltak's review

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? Yes

5.0

“No matter what happens, you remember that this world is more than the agony it contains.”

🍋💙🍋💙🍋💙🍋💙🍋💙🍋💙🍋💙

I am honestly speechless after this book. I am in shock over how many intense emotions I just experienced over the course of 400 pages. I want to start by saying first and foremost that this should absolutely be required reading in schools. People need to read this and understand a larger scope of the world. This book is so important for spreading the importance of how deeply a war destroys regardless of who’s shores it’s on. The messages and themes of survival, PTSD, and the loss of innocence were heartbreaking and yet so necessary especially in today’s world. For fans of ‘The Book Thief’ and ‘The Hunger Games’, As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow is an incredibly moving story about one girl’s journey to survive war torn Syria. Salama must find a way to save herself and her sanity while the world around her is torn apart and the life she has always known is completely obliterated. With a hallucinatory form of fear as one of her only constant companions, Salama struggles with the need to stay alive but also to stay true to her roots and her home country. Her strength and bravery is so deeply infectious, you’ll be unable to do anything other than root and hope for her over the course of the story. Much like ‘The Book Thief’, the personification of darker themes (death/fear) and the blunt descriptions of the destruction will draw you in and won’t let go even after you turn that final page. This book needs to be picked up and read by so many more. Please pick this up and spread its influence if you’re able. In today’s world this is the kind of literature we need and should be promoting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Genocide, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Hate crime, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Torture and Xenophobia

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Genocide, Death, Police brutality, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Torture and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

livs_getting_bookish's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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

I was left speechless, I finished the book and just sat there for about 10 minutes, huge smile on my face, not wanting to move on from this masterpiece just yet. The rich plot and scenery, the amazing characters just begging you to fall in love with them, the beautiful writing, the hope and the tragedy. And that plot twist that came about 60% of the way through - wow! I bawled my eyes out several times throughout this book but laughed and cheered the characters on just as much! I would recommend this book to anyone!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Blood and Gore

Minor: Rape

bookishmagpie's review

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Blood, War, Murder, Death, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Medical trauma

myths_reads's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I'm not the biggest fan of historical novels but this takes the win on so many levels. Given the topic of the book, I was a bit apprehensive about how someone would be able to make the necessary impact. Still, Katouh blew all of my expectations out of the water and left me teary-eyed throughout the book. I think the biggest win for this book is how easily the author is able to have a profound discussion on war, and the impact it has on people. She takes politics off the topic and shows that the people who suffer in war are the innocents caught in the crossfire. 

The story is real and heartfelt. It also doesn't shy away from difficult topics, from showing the horrors of war. But it also shows hope and shows that there is a silver lining in the horrible moments. The only reason why this book did not get a five star from me is because I never felt 100% attached to the characters. Obviously, this book is not targeted to my age-group so there's that.

I still think EVERYONE should read this book. Highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Grief, Blood, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

mojjaroa's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and War

mshai's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, War, and Death of parent

celery09's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

It was heartbreaking and real. The writing was very well done and it allowed for emotion, love, hope to mix in with the terror and trauma that Salama experiences. There are only a few things I would change, but it was a very good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Torture

eryn_gilbert's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Murder, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Child death, Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Torture, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Mental illness, Medical content, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

wibke's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Child death, and Death