Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

16 reviews

spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

handowskie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense fast-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: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rebeccakoury's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I am absolutely wrecked. I teared up for a bit but then at about 60% I started crying, which turned to sobbing, which turned to covering my eyes and mouth trying to not scream, turned to racing to my husband to get comfort, turned back to reading and crying for the rest of the book.

This story will stay with me forever. I am devastated but I feel honored to have read this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, and Torture

nehaanna's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

I haven’t cried over a book in years. I’ve read plenty of war novels, novels about trauma and violence and fear and PTSD and unjust regimes and war crimes. But this book tapped into something so honest and wrenching. It’s a privilege to be able to just read about the Syrian Civil War and not ever experience something like it, as Syria did or as Palestine continues to feel. There is so much storytelling about the human range of emotions and ability to survive. Our brains are wired to adapt and overcome in the harshest of circumstances, and this book demonstrates this. 

There is no amount of words for the grief this book inspires. I think I started crying when I read the words “I’ll tell God everything,” and I never stopped. Reading this about a month or so after the Assad regime fell in Syria and a few days into a tentative ceasefire in Palestine, I can only think of the war torn, the displaced, the refugees, the asylum seekers, the ones who fled their country of birth for the chance of life. And now they can return home, their hopes have come to fruition. This book is just one of many stories about so many Salama’s, Kenan’s, Layla’s, Hamza’s, Lama’s, Yousuf’s, Dr. Zaid, and so many more. May their hearts be at peace and their souls at rest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

bloomingbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Incredibly poignant and impactful. This book personifies war - beyond numbers and statistics, it shows the impact of conflict on individual people. 

As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow is a much-needed account of both the darkness of war and the pockets of happiness and humanity that exist alongside it. Salama was such a strong protagonist, and her love story with Keenan gave much needed levity to a gut wrenching story. 

In today’s climate whereby the number of refugees and displaced people reaches a new record every year, this book should be required reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

piprigsby's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

this book is so good. first of all, it is so very informative (despite being fiction) about the syrian civil war, and the reflections of grief and trauma are written beautifully. secondly, THIS IS LOVE PEOPLE. kenan and salama are so freaking cute and the course of their romance is so good. every time kenan called her "my wife" made me silent scream it was so good. 


SPOILERS

i do have to say that i was very worried that the author would not address salama using samar's life as leverage to get away from syria, just because i had it in the back of my mind every time salama and kenan were super happy, but i was satisfied with how salama told kenan, and his reaction of "you have suffered enough" because of what she did changed my life. especially because i totally recognize that she was just trying to lookout for her loved ones, but that she recognized that it was still not a great thing to do. 

SPOILERS OVER

i think i'm kind of around a 4.75 just because of the whole holding a child's life hostage, despite knowing that she was doing it for her loved ones and to keep her promise to hamza, and i can't judge her too much because she was forced into a horrible position. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Torture, Vomit, and Pregnancy

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Confinement, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking

gabriellegoldenhour's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rosinawrites7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Clear motivations of characters made the plot satisfying. Descriptive memories really filled out the main characters. For my writing I wanna remember:

link between Layla’s painting and the sea scene at the end was cool. And can I use Khawl’s character for My Friend Anxiety?

 

Twist with Layla was great and never saw it coming

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

fazington's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail