Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

75 reviews

singingshooter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

This book is both heartbreaking and warming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Child death, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexism, Torture, and Pregnancy

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

sierralounsbury's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

Minor: Sexual assault

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."

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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

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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

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

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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

ankan_tove's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

UGHHH CRIED SOO MUCH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and War

noetje's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The change in the plot, around halfway through the book, surprised me in a positive way. For me, it was brilliantly executed and unexpected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

born_reading's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death of parent

acechemicals's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Torture, and Vomit