Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

60 reviews

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Genocide, War, Child death, Torture, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Confinement

emilily's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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? Yes

4.75

A gripping story of a young woman navigating trauma and grief in the context of the Syrian war. Overall, I loved this book

Spoiler

but I wish the author hadn't bothered with the epilogue; end on a cliffhanger in the sea was a huge missed opportunity to leave the ending up to interpretation

Spoiler

. 

I'd definitely recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, War, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Gun violence

Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Child death, and Death of parent

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

arianna9's review

dark emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Amazing book. Super realistic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Child death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and War

Moderate: Torture, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Rape

podanotherjessi's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

4.75

This is beautiful and heartbreaking and hopeful and tragic all at once. I think this book could easily be and probably should be added to mandatory reading lists for high schoolers. It shows such an important perspective on Syria, which I think is necessary for everyone. Absolutely stunning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Death

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

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

cthulhussy's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Child death, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis