Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most hilarious and disturbing book I've read all year, 29 April 2005
I loved Alicia Erian's debut collection of stories, 'The Brutal Language of Love' and have been waiting patiently for this novel since then. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. Right from the word go, I could not leave this book alone and whizzed through it in about 2 sittings. It's a very clever book, showing adult abuse from the point of view of a young girl who clearly doesn't think anything wrong is taking place, in fact welcomes it. Only by the end have the full implications dawned on her. Erian even manages to elicit some sympathy from the reader for the abuser. It is this moral complexity, and fully realistic characterisation, that makes this book so special. We are drawn by the naive, child-like simplicity of the narrative voice into a situation which becomes more unbearable by the minute but which we cannot for a second tear our eyes away from.
Crucially, however, Erian leavens this dark material with generous helpings of comedy. The scene with the frozen cat in the microwave will leave you giggling for a week, and Jasira is such an adorable narrator that you want to just give her a big hug and tell her everything will be alright eventually.
This is a surprisingly easy read for such an intelligent and thought-provoking book. I have given it to people who do not even consider themselves readers, and also to people who've read absolutely everything, and all of them love it. Please please get your hands on a copy of this as quickly as you can. It is so obviously a future classic, and also the best book about the tribulations of puberty I have ever read. Get onto it right at the start, before everyone is reading it!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A modern day Lolita!, 15 May 2008
This was definitely the most brutal and honest coming of age book I have ever read. I can't say that I enjoyed reading all of the book ebcause some bits really were disturbing but there was something utterly compelling about the author's style and the narrator's voice. It was so real and stark and so lost and confused. You really sympathise with this teenage girl who is going through the hardest time of her life and trying to make sense of everything. Being an Arab girl in America, having the conflict between parents and friends plus the conflict between two divorced parents. The beginnings of sexual desire and how to make sense of the body;s response to it. Understanding the power of sex and love and the difference between them. There were bits of the book that bought back such stong flashbacks of going through much of the same thing as a teenager but this book had the added shock value of th Lolita-based theme running through it too. Definitely a very moving and effective novel that I just couldn't put down, even through the worst bits. And one that would stay with me even when I wasn't reading it. The writing style is very short and punchy, making this very easy to get engrossed in. I finished reading within a couple of days. Probably not for the faint hearted or the easily offended but a book I would definitely recommend otherwise.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth a read, 19 Sep 2006
I really enjoyed this book, and would have given it five stars except for the fact that it tails off a bit near the end. At times it is laugh out loud funny, and in an unexpected original way. I mean, periods aren't generally a funny topic, but the author manages to be pretty humorous about it.
The novel follows Jasira who has an Arab father and an American mother. She's pretty, and looks more grown up than she is, and this attracts a lot of attention from guys, some of them a lot older than her. She is sent to live with her harsh and sometimes violent father as her mother is jealous of the attention she gets from her boyfriend. Because of the subject matter the book is often unsettling and a few of the male characters are plain creepy. While living with her father Jasira develops a damaging relationship with her married next door neighboor Mr Vuoso. (one of the creepy ones.) There are a number of minor characters introduced along the way that add interest such as Jasira's friends from school, their families etc.
At times the novel can seem a bit repetive, which is why it tails off near the end, and could have done with a bit more editing I guess. The dialogue is largely realistic, although you have to suspend your disbelief at times, and there are a few nice characters that help to balance the disturbing aspects of the novel. Also, Jasira is likeable, which is unfortunately quite rare in novels, and so I cared what happened to her.
The final sentence rounds things up nicely, but not too neatly, and shows how Jasira has progressed and grown up as a person. Don't read this book if you want something happy and uncomplicated, because although there are redeeming nice characters there are many that will leave a nasty taste in your mouth. At times the book is shocking in its straightforward presentation of horrible events, such as the abuse Mr Vuoso inflicts on Jasira. What is most unsettling is the latter's confusion, she doesn't really know what she wants, she just wants some attention and to feel loved. If you like to be challenged, with some laughs as well, then I definitely recommend this book.
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