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malasopa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
twitchywitchy314's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
This book was a beautifully gut wrenching read. Stories of what it's like to live as a refugee, to live under siege and occupation and of resistance and of love that endures despite brutal oppression. A must read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Islamophobia, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Genocide, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Death and Homophobia
blove0312's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
<i>I colonized the colonizer's space of authority. I made myself free in chains and held that courtroom captive to my freedom.</i>
Heavy. Thought provoking. Fictional characters and story, sure, but very real nonetheless. And utterly heartbreaking. I don’t even have the words except to say this is an exceptional book.
As I read this book from my place of privilege, naïveté, and ignorance, sitting in comfort and security, I felt nauseous, selfish, faint. From the beginning, with Nahr telling us she knows the Palestinians are below the Kuwaitis but that she loves Kuwait anyway, I couldn’t even fathom being a true second class citizen in the country I lived in. (Yes yes, as a woman in the US I am aware of my own challenges but you cannot compare the two in my opinion. Not yet.)
I cheered Nahr on for (nearly) every decision she made (fck that banker guy though). Fck the patriarchy. Fck the Zionists. Fck the people who looked down on her for any choice she made. I highlighted the entire passage in the Underground that first time when she laid into Jumana. I was so proud of this fictional woman, overcoming everything thrown in her path. Enduring multiple displacements, curfews, imprisonments. Burying and mourning her friends and loved ones. Seeing her mother as her mother saw herself, realizing just what her needlework was and how precious it was, reading her thoughts and regrets on not saying more, praising more, on choosing modernity time and time again. Realizing why her mother and grandmother were the way they were and how they could just pick up and relocate only to jump right back into their routine, it’s mind blowing that this shit happens in a supposed modern world.
I have a lot to learn still. But I will.
Heavy. Thought provoking. Fictional characters and story, sure, but very real nonetheless. And utterly heartbreaking. I don’t even have the words except to say this is an exceptional book.
As I read this book from my place of privilege, naïveté, and ignorance, sitting in comfort and security, I felt nauseous, selfish, faint. From the beginning, with Nahr telling us she knows the Palestinians are below the Kuwaitis but that she loves Kuwait anyway, I couldn’t even fathom being a true second class citizen in the country I lived in. (Yes yes, as a woman in the US I am aware of my own challenges but you cannot compare the two in my opinion. Not yet.)
I cheered Nahr on for (nearly) every decision she made (fck that banker guy though). Fck the patriarchy. Fck the Zionists. Fck the people who looked down on her for any choice she made. I highlighted the entire passage in the Underground that first time when she laid into Jumana. I was so proud of this fictional woman, overcoming everything thrown in her path. Enduring multiple displacements, curfews, imprisonments. Burying and mourning her friends and loved ones. Seeing her mother as her mother saw herself, realizing just what her needlework was and how precious it was, reading her thoughts and regrets on not saying more, praising more, on choosing modernity time and time again. Realizing why her mother and grandmother were the way they were and how they could just pick up and relocate only to jump right back into their routine, it’s mind blowing that this shit happens in a supposed modern world.
I have a lot to learn still. But I will.
gentleladybug's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
2kerrymehome's review
slow-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
4.5
I loved this book but it made me weary. I have aged 10 years since picking it up. I love the characters so much and I mourned every time something bad happened to them. It was so realistic to the progress of life in occupation, and because of that, it was so hard to hear about so much tragedy.
emmareeser's review
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and War
chiararai's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
rmm018's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
simplyv375's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
I loved this book so much the writing and storytelling are amazing. I got a lot of imagery from a couple of the scenes which is always fun. The acknowledgements at the end made me tear up as well as throughout the book. One thing I disliked was the response of, "everyone is a little bit homosexual" or something similar, that Nahr said when she met the closeted gay man.