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restoration48's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
5.0
mngwa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
lindsayb's review against another edition
5.0
It took a little bit of time to get started with this. I think I was too hung up over the glossary at first--which is fabulous and will elicit giggles--but then I just went with it. This book is all over the place, and it WORKS. It's a healthy dose of grim war commentary (the Iraq War, specifically), black comedy, non-stop action, and fantasy (). You'll get some gnarly violence and cornball humor on the same page...maybe in the same paragraph or sentence. Hossain expertly plays off the absurdity that comes out of a bleak situation. By the middle of the novel, everything had ratcheted up to such a pace that I both couldn't bear to put it down and couldn't bear for it to end. I will certainly be reading more of Hossain's work down the road.
Special thanks to Mahvesh Murad for reviewing it on her podcast, Midnight in Karachi. I've read a handful of works she's specifically recommended through her show (often during a sorely-missed segment, Under the Radar), and she has yet to lead me astray.
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Read Harder: Set in the Middle East.
Spoiler
though, it is noted that genies do not play much of a role as I had believedSpecial thanks to Mahvesh Murad for reviewing it on her podcast, Midnight in Karachi. I've read a handful of works she's specifically recommended through her show (often during a sorely-missed segment, Under the Radar), and she has yet to lead me astray.
********
Read Harder: Set in the Middle East.
mehitabels's review
4.0
Reviews support this book - it is very much a Middle Eastern Three Kings - a heist, a supernatural wonderment, military "intelligence" (snort), history, romance, action, hilarity, and the deep undercurrent of wtf is going on in Bagdad.
Brilliant, heart-breaking, numbing but full of humor, pathos, and provocative.
Brilliant, heart-breaking, numbing but full of humor, pathos, and provocative.
waclements7's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. I have never read anything remotely like this before. It’s very dark, very violent, and very funny.
electrostatic's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent writing and "world building"...
even though the "world" is essentially ours. this is the story of 3-7 characters through whose eyes we see the current political/economic/war situation in Iraq, but really through the corners of their eyes when it's not misted over with blood. don't be surprised if you start rooting for the most bloodthirsty of them all: I did! in the words of a dear friend, this is a great story about a bunch of men blowing shit up and going on a magical quest. it's also very very very funny. even the darned Glossary made me chuckle.
even though the "world" is essentially ours. this is the story of 3-7 characters through whose eyes we see the current political/economic/war situation in Iraq, but really through the corners of their eyes when it's not misted over with blood. don't be surprised if you start rooting for the most bloodthirsty of them all: I did! in the words of a dear friend, this is a great story about a bunch of men blowing shit up and going on a magical quest. it's also very very very funny. even the darned Glossary made me chuckle.
lulu_readsalot's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
tense
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
Creative, adventurous, sarcastic, informative.
And all around a good book. Be prepared for some violence and human pettiness. It does bring down my appreciation for human kind with a mirror to reality.
And all around a good book. Be prepared for some violence and human pettiness. It does bring down my appreciation for human kind with a mirror to reality.
luisvilla's review against another edition
Wild, weird. Seems like despite lasting nearly twenty years there has been very little (English-language?) fiction set in Iraq/Aghanistan during the war, so even if not a fundamentally very serious book it was still interesting.