Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

44 reviews

gossameralbum's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

elenaluisa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

seanamcphie's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bookworm_11's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

kiwico's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

team_mosaic's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ummm???? i would not be shocked if this ends up being one of my all time favourite books by the end of my life. so heartbreaking and gutwrenching but also so hopeful and beautiful. i'm so deeply in love with the characters and the writing and ugh i'd give it 10 stars if i could

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

thebookfetishist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

Absolutely wow. A novel that is desperately needed in today's time. It perfectly shows the human and emotional side of the nameless Syrian faces you often get shown in media outlets. It is an absolute must read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

this book was brilliant - for a couple of reasons.

but i want to get into what i didn't enjoy first, to get it out of the way.
the book was really slow, bordering on boring, especially around the middle part. it felt like i was stuck at fifty percent for an eternity. i never once thought about dnf'ing it, because it was still interesting to read, but the longevity of it just put me off.
i also think you could just really feel that this was a young adult book. the romance was quite romantic, but somtimes so cheesy with the characters always calling each other by their names and saying 'romantic' lines that one could as well find on a teenager's instagram page.

now don't get me wrong, the romance wasn't bad, not at all! quite the opposite, actually. the ghibli references (esp. sheeta and pazu) were really adorable, but you know. cheesy.
i generally enjoyed the characters though and thought they were rather relatable. their dreams felt very real and i liked the diversity of them. i've never read anything about someone wanting to become an animator until now. their might life also left me feel very giddy and it made me root for them a lot, since they're both just such good (not flawless though, which was nice) people.
another thing i really enjoyed was the occasional banter, and khawf, whose sarcastic and sometimes 'funny' personality i liked.

but the romance and all that wasn't the point of the book.
the point was to educate people on what's happening in syria, because as the author states in the author's note, she noticed that very little people actually know what's going on. i think she did a great job combining awareness and information with great storytelling and a sweet romance.

the things that happened in this book were horrible, frightening, traumatic, because they are. this is not a product of the author's imagination. all the characters in the book are real. this is happening. it's not fiction, and katouh tries to convey exactly that.

i learned a lot through this book - about syria, and syrian culture specifically - and this review cannot capture how much impact this book had on me.

i recommend as long as the lemon trees grow to everyone, but especially to those who
... like me, didn't know a lot about syria,
... and to all of those in any situation who need something, a shimmer of hope, to cling to right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore and Vomit

cmkauth's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

esther_me's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

Amazing story. Heartbreaking and gutwrenching but absolutely incredible. Would recommend to everyone! (But be aware of very graphic details - it is not a book for everyone, though it should be)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail