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A review by probablyjenna
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
challenging
dark
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
This is a beautiful, challenging read that I know is going to stay with me for a long time.
It is about so many different things - war, culture, misogyny, family trauma, displacement - but at its heart, it’s truly about the absolute tenacity to Nahr, the main character. We get to know Nahr extremely well; the story is only told from her POV, and we follow her from the time she’s a teenager all the way until she’s an old woman. The choice of using just a single character POV really helped establish the depth of this novel; even when Nahr frustrated me, I felt close to her, protective of her. I wanted all good things for her, and it really hurt when those good things did not come to fruition.
Woven into Nahr’s story is also a lot of history. Her story begins in Kuwait, where her Palestinian family is othered due to their status as refugees. This is around the time that the United States invaded Kuwait, and seeing that history from Nahr’s perspective was really illuminating. Nahr’s family is forced to flee again, this time to Jordan, and the devastation of constantly being uprooted is really brought to life through the author’s prose. And eventually, Nahr finds herself back in Palestine - much of her story unfolds there.
The writing is simultaneously descriptive, yet simple. I finished it, and immediately checked out another book from this author from the library. If you like sweeping family stories set against the backdrop of political unrest, I’d definitely recommend this one.
It is about so many different things - war, culture, misogyny, family trauma, displacement - but at its heart, it’s truly about the absolute tenacity to Nahr, the main character. We get to know Nahr extremely well; the story is only told from her POV, and we follow her from the time she’s a teenager all the way until she’s an old woman. The choice of using just a single character POV really helped establish the depth of this novel; even when Nahr frustrated me, I felt close to her, protective of her. I wanted all good things for her, and it really hurt when those good things did not come to fruition.
Woven into Nahr’s story is also a lot of history. Her story begins in Kuwait, where her Palestinian family is othered due to their status as refugees. This is around the time that the United States invaded Kuwait, and seeing that history from Nahr’s perspective was really illuminating. Nahr’s family is forced to flee again, this time to Jordan, and the devastation of constantly being uprooted is really brought to life through the author’s prose. And eventually, Nahr finds herself back in Palestine - much of her story unfolds there.
The writing is simultaneously descriptive, yet simple. I finished it, and immediately checked out another book from this author from the library. If you like sweeping family stories set against the backdrop of political unrest, I’d definitely recommend this one.