Reviews

The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon

frankanalysis's review

3.0

There were part of this that I really enjoyed, and others that were so literary that I lost the plot with it a bit.

tropichop's review

4.0

this was fine, rly picked up in the back half. love a good diasporic story

saara_a's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense

4.0

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Grief, Violence, Pregnancy, Death, Confinement, and Drug use

henry_edwards1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

eli_abroad's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

An adventure story from Sarajevo to Shanghai set in the early half of the 20th century. It crosses through wars and conflicts in a sort of tragic Forest Gumpesque style - visceral and painful, yet sadly beautiful in its portrayal of love. Hemon's attention to the plight of refugees makes it relevant to modern times, and the story incited investigation into some historical events I knew little or nothing about.

The author employs some multi-lingual narration, which gives depth to the main character's history,  background, and way of thinking. But, even having an understanding of 2 of the foreign languages incorporated into the narrative, it was disorienting and contained relevant ideas/imagery that are lost to those with no knowledge of the languages.

gracecashxx's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

janeblue's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Genocide, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pregnancy, Cursing, Antisemitism, Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Mental illness, War, Addiction, Animal death, Colonisation, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Excrement, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Violence

jenwinnell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

oliverlang's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

This scrambled my brain in so many ways I'm not even sure where to begin.

It felt like reading approximately 4 different books at once. Sometimes it felt like fiction, sometimes non fiction/an essay. In the beginning it was almost like trying to read a book in a language you're studying but not quite fluent in. 

I was very slow to read this because it just failed to grab my attention for long enough, I'm glad that's over.