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rheagoveas's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
maps_booktube's review against another edition
3.0
Mais qu’est-ce que j’en ai pensé??
J’ai eu du mal à embarquer, j’avais l’impression qu’il y avait une distance provoquée par l’écriture. Le contexte est aussi très différent de ce que je connais et il n’est pas expliqué. Il est écrit comme si l’on sait (ce qui peut être le cas pour d’autres personnes).
Au départ la protagoniste me rebutait, ce désir de trouver un homme riche juste parce qu’il est riche ne me plaisait pas. Au fur et à mesure on comprend qu’il y a beaucoup d’autres enjeux. On comprend le rôle de la femme et le pouvoir des hommes. On découvre la difficulté des classes sociales et la non mixité entre elles. On vit la pression des pairs, de la famille et du pouvoir de ceux qui ont beaucoup d’argent. Ça prend définitivement une autre tournure.
TW: Beaucoup de violence animale. C’est dans le cadre de célébrations religieuses, mais j’ai du skipper des lignes entières parce que ça torturait et découpait des moutons.
J’ai eu du mal à embarquer, j’avais l’impression qu’il y avait une distance provoquée par l’écriture. Le contexte est aussi très différent de ce que je connais et il n’est pas expliqué. Il est écrit comme si l’on sait (ce qui peut être le cas pour d’autres personnes).
Au départ la protagoniste me rebutait, ce désir de trouver un homme riche juste parce qu’il est riche ne me plaisait pas. Au fur et à mesure on comprend qu’il y a beaucoup d’autres enjeux. On comprend le rôle de la femme et le pouvoir des hommes. On découvre la difficulté des classes sociales et la non mixité entre elles. On vit la pression des pairs, de la famille et du pouvoir de ceux qui ont beaucoup d’argent. Ça prend définitivement une autre tournure.
TW: Beaucoup de violence animale. C’est dans le cadre de célébrations religieuses, mais j’ai du skipper des lignes entières parce que ça torturait et découpait des moutons.
elienore's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
3.5
rozcoffey's review against another edition
4.0
i was really charmed by so much in this story. the characters were perhaps a little more fluid than i usually like - i felt i couldn't quite picture chirine and the boys sort of all blurred into one, but i feel, in a way, that made sarah's infatuation with driss more encompassing. the descriptions of casablanca were highly effective, and it seems so beautiful. learning so much of the cultural history of morocco was particularly insightful and i felt that the ramadan backdrop was quite pertinent to the themes. i also admired the ending, although i'm not sure what it really means. just so beautiful. and no, i did not read it in the french.
jade8412's review against another edition
3.0
Je n'ai pas réussi à apprécier une grande partie du roman. J'ai quand même trouvé la plume de l'autrice très belle, même si je n'ai pas réussi à accrocher aux personnages. Néanmoins, c'est une belle plongée dans la société de Casablanca et la fin... Bah la fin rattrape un peu tout le roman...
annso's review against another edition
5.0
Magnifique évolution de la perception de la narratrice : au début, on la pense vraiment vaine, mais sa fragilité et sa vaine entreprise (
rooerobitaille's review against another edition
3.75
livre de vacances (encore)
une histoire qui te laisse un peu d'espace pour rêver, mais qui te ramène rapidement à la réalité du Maroc dans les années 90. c'est beau par moment et ça donne la nausée par d'autre. un amour impossible, les riches/les pauvres...
"elle, elle aurait bientôt le calme, mais pour lui, la violence, c'était pour toujours"
une histoire qui te laisse un peu d'espace pour rêver, mais qui te ramène rapidement à la réalité du Maroc dans les années 90. c'est beau par moment et ça donne la nausée par d'autre. un amour impossible, les riches/les pauvres...
"elle, elle aurait bientôt le calme, mais pour lui, la violence, c'était pour toujours"
katyboo52's review against another edition
4.0
I couldn't find the English Language version of this so my review is here.
Sarah is dirt poor. She lives in the slums of Casablanca. Her French heritage means that she is allowed to go to the best school in the area and her beauty means that she is able to exploit her way into the hearts and wallets of the richest families in the city. Sarah knows that she has to hustle if she wants to escape the poverty that is destroying her mother and she sets her sights on netting Driss, the awkward, obsessive son of an obscenely wealthy family.
Sarah is out to play the system, but she overestimates her skills in this devastating novel of the reality and brutality of the poverty trap.
Sarah is dirt poor. She lives in the slums of Casablanca. Her French heritage means that she is allowed to go to the best school in the area and her beauty means that she is able to exploit her way into the hearts and wallets of the richest families in the city. Sarah knows that she has to hustle if she wants to escape the poverty that is destroying her mother and she sets her sights on netting Driss, the awkward, obsessive son of an obscenely wealthy family.
Sarah is out to play the system, but she overestimates her skills in this devastating novel of the reality and brutality of the poverty trap.
bibliofienna's review against another edition
4.0
A portrayal of naivety innocence in a tragic realistic world.
Sarah is poor and she loathes it, the only way she knows to not be poor is marry rich and her sights fell on Driss who is As Rich as the King.
At the beginning I thought Sarah is the most interesting heroine I've ever encountered. She has this air of entitlement of the finer things in life, she knows what she wants and she worked cleverly to achieve it, she's also smart and confidence. At least that's what I was led to believe until the half of the book, but I have always thought that things could go wrong and felt like her daydreams is too much that I cringe for her. That's when a realization occured that she's actually so naive, she doesn't comprehend how cruel the world can be (because of patriarchy) and sometimes daydreaming marry the rich won't solve a thing. After that realization, I discovered that the environment she grew up from a little child shaped her for who she is and her choices in life. I feel sorry and overwhelming sadness for her and Driss, I want to tell them please be aware and be careful.
The depiction of the characters are realistic with their own aspirations, errors, and looks. This book depicts poverty and its helplessness in a kind of way that makes it all realistically pessimistic, but we also get a glimpse of optimism from Sarah.
Patriarchy and capitalism are the fundamental background running strong here, it's a world where married women are not appreciated, subjected to domestic violence, unmarried newborn mama jailed immediately after giving birth and the baby is orphaned.
There are lots of references to Lolita and Marimar, so I think that's where the writer heads to.
I also would like to think that a couple mentions of Israel is a form of realistic world from the writer. The realistic depiction of a safe haven for Jews and delivered the hidden meaning of how that's how the world works now in the real world. A world where a group of people can feel safe to make their dreams come true, built on the graves of the indigenous people, the Palestinians.
I'm not fond of open endingwhere the last chapter ended in a very sad note but I understand why the author chose this ending, it's befitting for Sarah and Driss' story.
If you love a fiction that is thought-provoking, then you will absolutely love this story.
I obtained the ebook from NetGalley.
Sarah is poor and she loathes it, the only way she knows to not be poor is marry rich and her sights fell on Driss who is As Rich as the King.
At the beginning I thought Sarah is the most interesting heroine I've ever encountered. She has this air of entitlement of the finer things in life, she knows what she wants and she worked cleverly to achieve it, she's also smart and confidence. At least that's what I was led to believe until the half of the book, but I have always thought that things could go wrong and felt like her daydreams is too much that I cringe for her. That's when a realization occured that she's actually so naive, she doesn't comprehend how cruel the world can be (because of patriarchy) and sometimes daydreaming marry the rich won't solve a thing. After that realization, I discovered that the environment she grew up from a little child shaped her for who she is and her choices in life. I feel sorry and overwhelming sadness for her and Driss, I want to tell them please be aware and be careful.
The depiction of the characters are realistic with their own aspirations, errors, and looks. This book depicts poverty and its helplessness in a kind of way that makes it all realistically pessimistic, but we also get a glimpse of optimism from Sarah.
Patriarchy and capitalism are the fundamental background running strong here, it's a world where married women are not appreciated, subjected to domestic violence, unmarried newborn mama jailed immediately after giving birth and the baby is orphaned.
There are lots of references to Lolita and Marimar, so I think that's where the writer heads to.
I also would like to think that a couple mentions of Israel is a form of realistic world from the writer. The realistic depiction of a safe haven for Jews and delivered the hidden meaning of how that's how the world works now in the real world. A world where a group of people can feel safe to make their dreams come true, built on the graves of the indigenous people, the Palestinians.
I'm not fond of open ending
If you love a fiction that is thought-provoking, then you will absolutely love this story.
I obtained the ebook from NetGalley.