Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

All Men Want to Know by Nina Bouraoui

4 reviews

morebedsidebooks's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Homophobia, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, and Confinement

meghanelizabeth's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Xenophobia, War, Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a difficult review to write since it’s the book is an autobiographical novel, which means some parts are from the author’s life and other parts are fictionalized (but we don’t know which are which). It is known that the author is part French and part Algerian so it was interesting to read about her coming of age between cultures. Nina grows up in Algeria until she’s 14 years old when her family flees to Paris after her mother is assaulted. Nina visits a gay club every night and walks the streets of Paris, struggling to accept her sexuality and reflecting on her childhood.

The chapters are written as short snippets titled “remembering, becoming, or knowing.” The timeline throughout the book is scattered which could be confusing at times. However I did still enjoy the concept of the shorter chapters, viewing Nina’s experiences through quick glances. Even though they’re short, you could still get a feel for her past in an intense way. However I would’ve been interested to go deeper into getting to know her!

The writing style was well done and had beautiful prose, which led to me annotating several passages. The book is a great exploration and discussions on issues of identity, colonialism, discovering sexuality, and family trauma-specifically around mother daughter relationships.

Overall the book could be confusing at times, especially in the beginning, but I ended up really enjoying it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual assault, Suicide, Rape, Racism, Homophobia, Violence, Misogyny, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, and Child abuse

charleyroxy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia