Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

182 reviews

abigailrsimard's review against another edition

hopeful informative sad medium-paced

5.0

this is one of the most heart wrenching books I have ever read. a rare book that sheds light on both the worst and the best of humanity, this is a must-read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ellaa_aahhh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape and Torture

jesselynne0106's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, and War

wyvernsandwords'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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

felishacb's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.0

"I wish we were being broadcast live in every channel and smartphone in the world so everyone could see what they're allowing to happen to children."

This quote at the start of this novel halted my progress in picking this up, honestly, because we had spent the last year watching horror be broadcast on our smartphones and no one stopped it.

This story of Salama, a young Muslim girl in Syria, is heartbreaking and hopeful, amidst an oppressive government and a war. Set during the start of the Arab Spring with true facts woven into a timeline slightly condensed for this story, we meet a young pharmacy student, Salama, thrust into becoming a doctor, a surgeon, and a paramedic to keep up with the medical demands. 

Salama experiences loss, struggles with a very serious mental illness that manifests itself as a vision named Khawf, and keeps striving to make her family including her peegnant sister-in-law Layla, and homeland proud. She keeps stepping in front of her into the unknown, and she keeps making scary choices to practice hope. She finds chosen family in Kenan and his siblings and begins to dream. 

This story has so many parallels to what I've learned about G a z a: people kidnapped and held hostage in torture prisons, rebel armies resisting, government armies harming citizens and bombing hospitals.

Take care of your heart while you read, but Salama's story is important to know because this fictional version of this Syrian family represents so many more who are unseen and unheard. 

This is a young adult tale that I think would be appropriate for junior high or older. 

Quotes: 

"This land is my home. I don't have another one. Leaving is a death in itself."

"With every other situation in my life, I dissect all outcomes to the bone before deciding. But with this? The decision is a easy as breathing. It feels like how peace probably does."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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.

---

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

confexxi_history's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

 couldn't put it down& was fully immersed. I was shocked and breathless through most of it, too shocked to cry even until the bonus. I haven't cried like this in front of a book in a very long time and the story from start to finish was deeply moving. I'm too chocked up even now.

It will leave a mark on me forever.

I have seldomly read something so haunting. Very well written, very beautiful. I also learnt a lot. Thank you to the author and may God bless them and their family.

Recommanding to everyone but beware the trigger warnings

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault and Death of parent

The sexual assault was an attempt. Other Trigger Warning:

death, mental illness, starvation, bombing, children dying and other things in war

frenandjen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nishath's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Gore

thearielleview's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence