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A review by wchereads
Beside the Sickle Moon by Thaer Husien
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I thought of Wild Thorns often while reading this book. Both books, to quote myself, present the only sort of two sides I care to read about and understand - not that of the colonizer and the colonized, but whether to resist or to give in.
While reading Wild Thorns felt a lot like that "you can only watch" meme (a variation on the trolley problem where you have no access to any switch and can only watch while a train run over a track full of people), reading Beside the Sickle Moon made me felt like... I was the viewer, the conductor of the train and someone tied to the track at the same time. There's not much to say other than it felt so painfully real.
One thing I deeply appreciate about the author is the way he really does not pull any punches. Despite the protagonist's anti-resistance stance, he never stopped referring to the Israeli military as IOF and used the terms "settlers" and "Zionists" to refer to "the Israelis" properly. At one point, the author even made reference to how the CCP treats the Uyghurs and how "Israel" took inspiration from that. Other than the one memoir I read by a Uyghur woman, I cannot remember another book that mentioned the CCP's genocide of the Uyghurs straight up. It is sadly very unknown internationally and a lot of criticisms of the CCP are being painted as buying into the US propaganda which is just... It's a whole another can of worms that I will not open in this review.
If you find yourself feeling lost a chapter or two into the book, just keep reading. Trust me that everything will makes sense, especially as things start unfolding in the second half.
Also, it did NOT have to end like that. That was literally my first text to a friend who recently read the book after I finished: "WHY DID IT END LIKE THAT CRYING EMOJI"
An invaluable, vulnerable and brutally honest book about Palestinian resistance and living under an oppressive regime that I will not forget anytime soon and will be recommending alongside Wild Thorns.
Thank you to the author for providing a review copy! I am honoured to be able to read this story.
While reading Wild Thorns felt a lot like that "you can only watch" meme (a variation on the trolley problem where you have no access to any switch and can only watch while a train run over a track full of people), reading Beside the Sickle Moon made me felt like... I was the viewer, the conductor of the train and someone tied to the track at the same time. There's not much to say other than it felt so painfully real.
One thing I deeply appreciate about the author is the way he really does not pull any punches. Despite the protagonist's anti-resistance stance, he never stopped referring to the Israeli military as IOF and used the terms "settlers" and "Zionists" to refer to "the Israelis" properly. At one point, the author even made reference to how the CCP treats the Uyghurs and how "Israel" took inspiration from that. Other than the one memoir I read by a Uyghur woman, I cannot remember another book that mentioned the CCP's genocide of the Uyghurs straight up. It is sadly very unknown internationally and a lot of criticisms of the CCP are being painted as buying into the US propaganda which is just... It's a whole another can of worms that I will not open in this review.
If you find yourself feeling lost a chapter or two into the book, just keep reading. Trust me that everything will makes sense, especially as things start unfolding in the second half.
Also, it did NOT have to end like that. That was literally my first text to a friend who recently read the book after I finished: "WHY DID IT END LIKE THAT CRYING EMOJI"
An invaluable, vulnerable and brutally honest book about Palestinian resistance and living under an oppressive regime that I will not forget anytime soon and will be recommending alongside Wild Thorns.
Thank you to the author for providing a review copy! I am honoured to be able to read this story.