Review: I am Nojoud, age ten and divorced

Title: I am Nujood, age ten and divorced

Author: Nujood Ali

Pages: 188

Goodreads

My rating: 

Plot:

Forced by her father to marry a man three times her age, young Nujood Ali was sent away from her parents and beloved sisters and made to live with her husband and his family in an isolated village in rural Yemen. There she suffered daily from physical and emotional abuse by her mother-in-law and nightly at the rough hands of her spouse. Flouting his oath to wait to have sexual relations with Nujood until she was no longer a child, he took her virginity on their wedding night. She was only ten years old.
Unable to endure the pain and distress any longer, Nujood fled—not for home, but to the courthouse of the capital, paying for a taxi ride with a few precious coins of bread money. When a renowned Yemeni lawyer heard about the young victim, she took on Nujood’s case and fought the archaic system in a country where almost half the girls are married while still under the legal age. Since their unprecedented victory in April 2008, Nujood’s courageous defiance of both Yemeni customs and her own family has attracted a storm of international attention. Her story even incited change in Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries, where underage marriage laws are being increasingly enforced and other child brides have been granted divorces.
Recently honored alongside Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice as one of Glamour magazine’s women of the year, Nujood now tells her full story for the first time. As she guides us from the magical, fragrant streets of the Old City of Sana’a to the cement-block slums and rural villages of this ancient land, her unflinching look at an injustice suffered by all too many girls around the world is at once shocking, inspiring, and utterly unforgettable.

My thought:

I study arab language at university and I am always the first in defending this world. I always say to anyone who speak about it without knowing: don't judge so easily! There are lots of thing you should know before saying any word..

In this case, I tried to come up with some excuse for this story, but I couldn't.

How can a man -even if defining him 'man' is insulting for the oher human beings- marry, harass and hit a girl who is only nine years old and could be his daughter?! Poverty, ignorance.. seriously, they are NOT excuses for such behaviour.. 

While reading this book, I felt so helpless, so angry, so out of me!! There are lots of bad, terrible things in this world, no doubt. But abusing little girls is something that my mind cannot event think about!

I'm glad Nujood made it and became a free woman.. But my heart is still sad at the thought of the thousand girls in the same situation who weren't strong enough to rebel.. and I really think Nujood was extremely fortunate in being freed: NGO, international journals and foreign countries were so horrified with this story that they decided to intervene..

I don't think she would have been safe without them!

Review: Believing the lie - George

Title: Believing the lie

Author: Elizabeth George

Pages: 688

Goodreads

Rating:   

Plot:

Inspector Thoms Lynley is mysified when he's sent undercover to investigate the death of Ian Cresswell at the request of the man's uncle, the wealthy and influential Bernard Fairclough. The death has been ruled an accidental drowing, and nothing on the surface indicates otherwise. But when Linley enlists the help of his friends Simon and Deborah St. James, the trio's digging soon reveals that the Fiarclough clan is awash in secrets, lies, and movies.

Deborah's investigation of the prime suspect-Bernard's prodigal son Nicholas, a recovering drug addict leads her to Nicholasìs wife, a woman with whom she feels a kinship, a woman as fiercely protective as she is beautiful. Lynley and Simon delve for information from the rest of the family, including the victim's bitter ex-wife and the man he left her for, and Bernard himself. As the investigation escalates, the Fairclough family's veneer cracks, with deception and self-delusion threatening te destroy everyone from the Fairclough patriarch to Tim, the troubled son Ian left behind.

My thought:

Elizabeth George is a Goddes for the way she creates new worlds, outstanding characters and plots so hard to seep through.

So.. Why would give her only 3 stars?!

It was really hard to finish this book and everytime I had time to read, I spent it doing something else. I fell asleep after ten pages each time and it took me almost one month to read the word "end".

The plot is not a real plot: ok, we kinda have a murder to investigate.. But it only takes 1/4 of the whole story: we encounter too many characters and sub-plots, this time and everything gets really confused. There are also too many themes to deal with: pornography, pedophilia, sterility and so on.

Problem is, I think Mrs George lost herself dealing with too many pages in her books; first novels about Linley and Havers were way shorter then the last two or three, and they were perfect! Now -altough is always pleasant going through all Elizabeth's ideas, it's getting frustrating.

Furthermore when Linley and Havers: 1) work outside London plus 2) work detached, the lose their aura, they are the shadows of themselves and not so much enjoyable, that's it!!

Isabelle Ardery.. Oh, so unpleasant! Really, I think Elizabeth George was depicting a person she disliked, while creating this character!!

But the most annoying character over all is Deborah. Seriously!! Simon is an angel, forced to listen, understand, console Deborah and fix her mistakes.

After this story, If I were him, I would have asked for divorce ._.

Ok, I know I didn't make a good description of this book, but I would recommend it to all Elizabeth George, Linely and Havers' fan, because as usual, she writes as only great writers can do. Astonishing, really!

Review: When love comes to town - Lennon

Title: When love comes to town

Author: Tom Lennon

Pages: 175
Rating: 

Goodreads

Plot: Meet Neil Bryne -try-scorer on the rugby field, prizeiwinning student, one of the in-crowd at the disco, regular guy, gay. Presenting one face to the world and burying his true feelings in fantasy, Neil manages to keep his secret. But when fantasy isn't enough and he becomes caught up in the bizzarre subculture of Dublin's gay nightlife, the pretense must end. It is the time for truth. The conseguences are both hilaroius and painful. Told with honesty, humour and originality,"When love comes to town" brings a new type of hero to modern Irish fiction.

My thought:

There are two Neils: the one that has lots of friends, who enjoys going to the bars with them and who is happy and the other that is probably the loneliest person in the whole world. He can't share with his family and his friends a frightening secret: he's gay. When he decides to reveal it to his best friend, Neil discovers a new world in which he isn't the only gay boy in the world. and he meets lots og guys like him.

I really liked the first part of this book, because Neil is such a sweet boy.. He made me feel so protective! The second part losts part of its brilliance and it's a little bit confused.

Furthermore, some themes ought to be tretead in a less superficial way, such as Daphne's death due to AIDS..

I would have liked to read about Ian and Neil! 

Praises for this book: it feels real and is peopled by great characters.. As I said, Neil is a sweetheart! *_*

By the way, the title refers to a song by U2.. :)