Scan barcode
A review by happiestwhenreading
Evil Eye by Etaf Rum
4.0
Before I can give any real review, I’ve got to tell you about my reading experience with this book. I started before the events unfolded on Oct 7 in Israel. I was maybe around halfway through at that point. So everything after that came through the lens of this horrendous Hamas attack and the subsequent bombings of Gaza by Israel.
I will not pretend to understand the historical context between Israel and Palestine. I will not pretend to have a solution to the horrors I’ve seen every day since then on the news and social media. All I know is that there are a lot of innocent people being traumatized, hurt, and killed. Maybe it’s naïveté, but there has to be a better way than this. It would be ridiculous for me, as a mother, not to put myself and my children in the shoes of these people and try to understand how wrong and horrible all of this is. I have never wanted peace for a region more than I do now.
It is more important than ever to read books by authors different than me - in color, culture, and religion. I have learned that I don’t have to agree with everything, but I can absolutely empathize and attempt to change what I think I already know. It is imperative- at the very least - not to paint a culture or religion or group of people with the same broad brush. We are individuals that think and act independently of any clump we may (or may not) belong to. Judge a person on who and what they do, not as a collective whole.
As for the book, I flew through the pages. I could t put it down and I really loved watching Yara’s growth. Her husband enflamed me and I couldn’t have been happier when she finally took a stand for herself. Unfortunately, the middle got bogged down a bit and became a little repetitive, but overall, Etaf Rum if proving herself to be an author I really enjoy!
Thanks to the #readwithtoni group for being my reading buddies!
I will not pretend to understand the historical context between Israel and Palestine. I will not pretend to have a solution to the horrors I’ve seen every day since then on the news and social media. All I know is that there are a lot of innocent people being traumatized, hurt, and killed. Maybe it’s naïveté, but there has to be a better way than this. It would be ridiculous for me, as a mother, not to put myself and my children in the shoes of these people and try to understand how wrong and horrible all of this is. I have never wanted peace for a region more than I do now.
It is more important than ever to read books by authors different than me - in color, culture, and religion. I have learned that I don’t have to agree with everything, but I can absolutely empathize and attempt to change what I think I already know. It is imperative- at the very least - not to paint a culture or religion or group of people with the same broad brush. We are individuals that think and act independently of any clump we may (or may not) belong to. Judge a person on who and what they do, not as a collective whole.
As for the book, I flew through the pages. I could t put it down and I really loved watching Yara’s growth. Her husband enflamed me and I couldn’t have been happier when she finally took a stand for herself. Unfortunately, the middle got bogged down a bit and became a little repetitive, but overall, Etaf Rum if proving herself to be an author I really enjoy!
Thanks to the #readwithtoni group for being my reading buddies!