Celestial | Against the Loveless World: A Novel

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Against the Loveless World: A Novel

Susan Abulhawa

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2020 Palestine Book Awards Winner

2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist

“Susan Abulhawa possesses the heart of a warrior; she looks into the darkest crevices of lives, conflicts, horrendous injustices, and dares to shine light that can illuminate hidden worlds for us.” —Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize–winning author

In this “beautiful...urgent” novel (The New York Times), Nahr, a young Palestinian woman, fights for a better life for her family as she travels as a refugee throughout the Middle East. As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows.

Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been.

After trekking through another temporary home in Jordan, she lands in Palestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Israeli occupation. Nahr’s subversive humor and moral ambiguity will resonate with fans of My Sister, The Serial Killer, and her dark, contemporary struggle places her as the perfect sister to Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties.

Written with Susan Abulhawa’s distinctive “richly detailed, beautiful, and resonant” (Publishers Weekly) prose, this powerful novel presents a searing, darkly funny, and wholly unique portrait of a Palestinian woman who refuses to be a victim.

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Posts about this title from Celestial

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 30 2025

🍉 Read For Palestine this September!

please be sure to follow the organizers Naseerah (opacarophvlia) and Ross (@readsbyross) for more information. their fundraiser is also in the ⛓️‍💥place on my profile.

📚 books mentioned: - Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa - Blood Orange by Mx. Yaffa - Squire by Nadia Shammas and Sara Alfageeh - Minor Detail by Adania Shibli - Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad

#ReadForPalestine #palestinianbooks #bookrecs #literaryfiction #fantasybooks #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #diversebookstagram #nycbookstagram #bookstagram @atriabooks @merajpublishing @quilltreebooks @fitzcarraldoeditions @ndpublishing @groveatlantic

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Sep 21 2024

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i know that it sometimes feels like you’re struggling against the tide, but your feed is what you make it! here’s a little reset for you all the same.

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 21 2024

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Dec 23 2023

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Nov 20 2023

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Posts about this book from across Bindery

Betty's Bookish Thoughts\ \ Betty\ \ • May 10

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Welcome to Betty Bookish Thoughts!

Consider this a mini introduction to my bookish taste and loves!

If I can’t choose just one genre to love, why not all?! 🥰 There are too many books and authors I admire whose characters and words speak to me and make their worlds feel real. Let me know which books resonate with you, and I’d love to hear your own bookish responses as well (in particular, I want to know which books made you ugly cry 🤭)!

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2-Spirit Bookshelf\ \ (@Indigenousbookshelf)\ \ • Nov 19 2025

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Indigenous bookstagram tour! I haven’t gone to bed yet so it’s technically still my day right? 🙃

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2-Spirit Bookshelf\ \ (@Indigenousbookshelf)\ \ • Oct 30 2025

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\ \ I’ve been working on some book reviews, but TBH I’m a really slow processor so it’s taking a bit of time. \ \ Just wanted to post this with some of my book mail from last week. Still waiting on quite a few — the post strike has been brutal. \ \ Feel free to tell me in the comments what you’ve been reading. I’d love to chat books with y’all!\ \ Join for free or login](https://2spiritbookshelf.binderybooks.com/item/cy6AVVqZujxm779Hqigb/)

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Oct 2 2025

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\ \ Join for free or login](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/Bir1FefdRRtacro5RIHP/)

it's my birthday! here are 28 books that have shaped my life 🫶🏾

open for book recs <3

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2-Spirit Bookshelf\ \ (@Indigenousbookshelf)\ \ • Sep 16 2025

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Procession- Katherena Vermette\ \
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The Adult- Bronwyn Fischer\ \
No Spiritual Surrender- Klee Benally\ \
The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy- Steph Jones\ \
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The People's Project- Saeed Jones; Maggie Smith\ \
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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 30 2025

🍉 Read For Palestine this September!

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Mar 19 2025

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if you like this book, read this one! 🩷 BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS 📚

hope you enjoy these recommendations 💖

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Mar 16 2025

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books set around the WORLD that you need to read asap 🌍

book recs for this month's reading challenge to read books set outside of north america!!

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JemilaBeReadin\ \ JemilaBeReadin\ \ • Feb 20 2025

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Books I’ve discovered through booktok

Books I’ve discovered through booktok. It’s been real y’all. I hope to continue talking about books with y’all elsewhere on the internet! 🫶🏾 People mentioned in this video: @dakota bossard @Amivi⁷ @Alex @IG/YT: bookbaddiebri ᥫ᭡ @sometimesrobinreads🤎📚 @Torri🌻 @Kennedy Ryan @Nisha Sharma @schizophrenicreads on Substack @aubrei @Mari - booktok + media reviews @ig: vivafalastinleen 🇵🇸 @Hana 🍉 @Viano Oniomoh 💖 #readersoftiktok #bookishthings #bookishtiktok #booktok #bookrecommendations #romancebooktok #nonfictionbooktok #literarytok #blackromance #bookishtok #readersofbooktok

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Dec 31 2024

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my top 10 favourite books of 2024 ✨ best books of 2024 🎉

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🔒 Join my Bindery community for the extended version of this video where I share my TOP 11-20 BOOKS OF 2024: https://boundless.binderybooks.com/

🍉 Palestine / Gaza fundraiser: https://secure.everyaction.com/-73MDOq2iUetglwT5-jUMw2 Thousands of authors boycott https://lithub.com/hundreds-of-authors-pledge-to-boycott-israeli-cultural-institutions/ Full letter + list of signatories: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KzLMsjcs2Qla--qqzsfJ8iJdHN-nABGdCcYWRcqSyIA/edit?tab=t.0

Pre-order DUST SETTLES NORTH by Deena ElGenaidi! 📕 Preorder campaign: bit.ly/DustSettlesNorthPreorder 📗 Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/dust-settles-north-deena-elgenaidi/21660445?ean=9781964721163 📘 Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dust-settles-north-deena-elgenaidi/1146012296?ean=9781964721163 📙 Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Dust-Settles-North-Deena-ElGenaidi/dp/1964721164?tag=thisstoryai04-20 📓 Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216539793-dust-settles-north?from\_search=true&from\_srp=true&qid=A2tCltxUzB&rank=1

links 📕 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 📘 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 📗 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover 📓 substack: https://jananiekvelu.substack.com/ 📙 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover 🗣️ discord community: https://discord.gg/RQjq5yNHTA 🔖 Fable book club: https://fable.co/club/boundless-book-club-with-jananie-k-velu-111751962292

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Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Nov 26 2024

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[Hello Friends,\ \ As you know, each month one paid subscriber from the $5 tier receives a hand written letter with book recs and one paid subscriber from the $12/$25 dollar tier receives a book box curated by me+a letter with book recs. Winners are selected by an automated generator. Both subscribers have the option of also being feautred in a spotlight post (this is OPTIONAL, which means even though there is are two members selected each month, you may not see a post).\ \ \ \ \ \ This month, I am so happy to highlight one of my favorite accounts, Chrissy, at Lostinabookbrb on most social platforms. Chrissy was selected to receive the curated book box and if you're curious as to what was in the box, you can see her video here, be sure to give her a follow on Tiktok: :View The Video\ \ Chrissy was one of my first mutuals on Tiktok! She reads diversely and like me, she reads in multiple genres! Romance! Horror! Fantasy! Her videos are often really, really funny!\ \ I asked Chrissy to share her top 5 favorite books:\ \

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna\
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tinge\
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan\
Hency by Natalie Natalie Zina Walschots\
Against The Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa\ \ Chrissy said "these are all books from this year. I had three that I desperately wanted to include but decided on these ones due to writing style, impact and how much I remember bout it after I read it."\ \ Chrissy has a book club on Fable for Diverse Historical Romance!\ \ https://fable.co/club/diverse-historical-romance-with-lostinabookbrb-810784440486\\ \ In addition to Tiktok and Fable, you can find Chrissy on\ \ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lostinabookbrb/profilecard/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\\ \ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@lostinabookbrb?igshid=MGUxYzgxM2YwYQ==\\ \ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/lostinabookbrb.bsky.social\\ \ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lostinabookbrb?si=G7fcOKT1VIETIsOb\\ \ I am so lucky to have Chrissy as a mutual and as a supporter of the Boozhoo Books community.\ \ \ \ ](https://boozhoo.binderybooks.com/item/YMGBPmCzCBJgPdK0gxqB/)

Boozhoo November Member Spotlight

November Boozhoo Member Spotlight: Lostinabookbrb, Chrissy

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Sep 21 2024

"booktok destroyed literature!"

i know that it sometimes feels like you’re struggling against the tide, but your feed is what you make it! here’s a little reset for you all the same.

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 21 2024

green flag books

omg how many books did i even pull for this?? i would have more if i owned physical copies of more of my faves! 🟩 green flag books!

20 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jul 8 2024

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If you like this, read this book! BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

19 books

Left Unread Books\ \ Michael LaBorn\ \ • Jun 3 2024

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[Hello, everyone! I know that for many of you, Tiktok and Instagram are working to keep you from seeing all of the Palestinian content you would like to. So I thought I would collect a small number of books for you here! Most of these are written by Palestinians, but a few were written by anti-zionist Jewish people and American civil rights activists.\ \ Non-Fiction:\ \

The Hundred Years War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi\
Palestine Hijacked by Thomas Suárez:\
Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis\
**The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe **\
We are not here to be Bystanders by Linda Sarsour\
Looking for Palestine by Najla Said\
Poets for Palestine by Remi Kanazi\ \ \ \ FICTION:\ \
Against a Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa\
Ida in the Middle by Nora Lester Murad\
Mother of Strangers by Suad Amiry\
Something More by Jackie Khalilieh\
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/haKplwLVaQRvu1Bd82kG/)

Book List for Palestine

Here is a compiled list of some of the books I have come across highlighting Palestinian liberation/stories. I have already read a few of these and plan to make my way through the rest as I'm able!

12 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jan 29 2024

\ \ Upgrade for $5 or login](https://celestial.binderybooks.com/item/EJbt3zmmBFSJPtdKHKF0/)

top 6-10 books of 2023

just for you, Bindery friends!

5 books

Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Jan 28 2024

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🇵🇸 Palestinian Book Recs & TBR

🇵🇸 book recs & TBR #booktok #bookrecommendations #TBR #toberead

11 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jan 22 2024