A review by hadeelelelele
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Some scattered thoughts…
What I liked:
- Really enjoyed the conversation on prostitution, class, heroism, and honor
- Nahr was a very convincing main character. She’s flawed and quite unlikeable at times but you feel invested in her, and her character development was very well done
- The short sections where Nahr is in the prison were very well-written
- The depiction of Nahr and Bilal’s love was beautiful
My critiques:
- Though Nahr’s particular character trajectory from beginning to end was convincing and touching, I didn’t feel like the beginning and end of the novel came together in a convincing way to form an overall cohesive picture. The themes being explored felt quite scattered and unfocused at times
- I’ve read all of this author’s novels and they all seem to follow the formula of a character’s homecoming to Palestine and then being awed by the sense of collectivism and communal support etc etc and all that romantic jazz. I wouldn’t mind it if the substance & affect of this return to Palestine didn’t feel too repeated and formulaic across the novels
- Some sections in the middle felt unnecessarily long and wordy, could’ve been cut down
- The inclusion of certain Arabic words in italics felt forced and unnecessary. For example at one point why was the word “ghada” not just written as “lunch”?!
- Sometimes it feels as though the author has a piece of shrewd political observation/analysis or a lyrical line of prose that she’d really like to fit somehow and so includes it as dialogue to be said by a character even if it sounds unnatural as dialogue and out of place
- Felt like there was sometimes a lot shoe-horned into the narrative (eg. Mhammad’s back story)
Overall I’m glad I read this novel, it has a lot of great threads and touching moments. I just have an issue with the writing style at points, and the story - though made up of great threads - just doesn’t fully come whole for me by the end
What I liked:
- Really enjoyed the conversation on prostitution, class, heroism, and honor
- Nahr was a very convincing main character. She’s flawed and quite unlikeable at times but you feel invested in her, and her character development was very well done
- The short sections where Nahr is in the prison were very well-written
- The depiction of Nahr and Bilal’s love was beautiful
My critiques:
- Though Nahr’s particular character trajectory from beginning to end was convincing and touching, I didn’t feel like the beginning and end of the novel came together in a convincing way to form an overall cohesive picture. The themes being explored felt quite scattered and unfocused at times
- I’ve read all of this author’s novels and they all seem to follow the formula of a character’s homecoming to Palestine and then being awed by the sense of collectivism and communal support etc etc and all that romantic jazz. I wouldn’t mind it if the substance & affect of this return to Palestine didn’t feel too repeated and formulaic across the novels
- Some sections in the middle felt unnecessarily long and wordy, could’ve been cut down
- The inclusion of certain Arabic words in italics felt forced and unnecessary. For example at one point why was the word “ghada” not just written as “lunch”?!
- Sometimes it feels as though the author has a piece of shrewd political observation/analysis or a lyrical line of prose that she’d really like to fit somehow and so includes it as dialogue to be said by a character even if it sounds unnatural as dialogue and out of place
- Felt like there was sometimes a lot shoe-horned into the narrative (eg. Mhammad’s back story)
Overall I’m glad I read this novel, it has a lot of great threads and touching moments. I just have an issue with the writing style at points, and the story - though made up of great threads - just doesn’t fully come whole for me by the end
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault