A bold new voice from Saudi Arabia spins a fascinating Scheherazade-like tale of four young women attempting to navigate the narrow straits between...
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reviews
Apr 08, 2008
Foodie
rated it: 
Save for the last 3 chapters, Girls of Riyadh by Raja Alsanea was a huge let down. Sensationalized and immature, the author is clearly looking to cash in on the western stereotypes of the east. The 4 female protagonists act in the most predictable, girly-movie way.
The story did nothing for me, didn't enlighten me to the supposedly hidden side of the Arab way of life and society, as the author promised in many interviews. The author assumes this self-important, holier-than-thou tone that go More...
The story did nothing for me, didn't enlighten me to the supposedly hidden side of the Arab way of life and society, as the author promised in many interviews. The author assumes this self-important, holier-than-thou tone that go More...
Dec 22, 2007
Karen
rated it: 
I think the author wrote a true account of life in Saudi Arabia. I am married to a Saudi, and I didn't find anything she wrote about to be in conflict with what I know from my 29 years of marriage, experience in SA, and extended family. Most importantly,her story rings true based on what my children (who are now the same age as the author) have told me about the private world of young people. It's an exciting peek into the inner world of young Saudi women, and that is enough to make it worth the
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3 comments
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(28 people liked it)
Jan 04, 2011
Osho
rated it: 
Touted as a breakthrough, this epistolary novel needs to be understood in its cultural context in order to be something other than not-very-engaging chick lit. Within that cultural context, this novel-in-one-sided-e-mails is discrepant, jarring, and revolutionary (at least within the domestic sphere of the rich). However, even from this perspective, I had trouble with what felt like a self-conscious effort to mimic "Sex in the City." The characters' cattiness and meanspirited comments
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Nov 05, 2007
Jessica
rated it: 
Poor girls of Riyadh...their love lives are like mine in 5th grade was, if I had worn Roberto Cavalli dresses and my parents had forced me to marry my cousin. I'm giving this three stars for three reasons: 1. The author's courage (and the fact that other Muslim girls, feeling trapped, will surely look at her beautiful face, smiling out from a hijab, and read her profile - she is studying endodontics - and think, perhaps, that life has more possibility than it seems) 2. Her good writerly decsion
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3 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Keturah
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book on several levels. I'll try to clearly explain why:
1. I like books set in India and the Middle East. This book is set in Saudi Arabia. Most of what I know about Saudi Arabia comes from what I hear on the nightly news, so it's interesting to read a book written by a Saudi woman. It's a completely different culture, but this book is about far more than just war and inequality, it's also about culture and mores.
2.It's pretty much chick lit set in the More...
1. I like books set in India and the Middle East. This book is set in Saudi Arabia. Most of what I know about Saudi Arabia comes from what I hear on the nightly news, so it's interesting to read a book written by a Saudi woman. It's a completely different culture, but this book is about far more than just war and inequality, it's also about culture and mores.
2.It's pretty much chick lit set in the More...
0 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Sarah
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I had a hard time reading this book for several reasons. First, it was never intended to be translated into English and by doing so I'm sure the author had to provide tons of extra passages of explanation about Arabic culture to the english speaking readers. Second, I'll openly admit that it is not a well written book (in English)-- it reads like a middle school essay on 'how I spent my summer'. But that aside, this was an interesting exploration into a culture that I know very little about, eve
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6 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Oct 18, 2008
Huda Felimban
rated it:
إذا لم تخني الذاكرة، مُنعت هذه الرواية في بداية إصدارها.
أذكر أن صديقتي كانت متحمسة جدا عندما أحضرتها من دبي، كما لو أنها وجدت كنزا
قرأتها وصدقاً لا أجدها تستحق أي ضجة أو بلبة
عادية، بكل المقاييس
أذكر أن صديقتي كانت متحمسة جدا عندما أحضرتها من دبي، كما لو أنها وجدت كنزا
قرأتها وصدقاً لا أجدها تستحق أي ضجة أو بلبة
عادية، بكل المقاييس
0 comments
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(11 people liked it)
Dec 19, 2010
Harun Harahap
rated it:
tertarik beli buku ini karena melihat tulisan di cover buku ini.."Dilarang beredar di Arab Saudi:Kisah Nyata"..ugh langsung membuat gw penasaran akan isi bukunya...ternyata ni buku berisi tentang email2 yang dikirimkan oleh sang penulis atau Lumeis,tokoh dalam buku ini..dan isnya adalah cerita kehidupan pernikahan dia dan sahabat2nya..
buku ini menceritakan tentang perjuangan wanita dalam kehidupan cintanya..yang mana kok kayaknya di Arab Saudi dianggap tabu..nah inilah yang More...
buku ini menceritakan tentang perjuangan wanita dalam kehidupan cintanya..yang mana kok kayaknya di Arab Saudi dianggap tabu..nah inilah yang More...
3 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jun 30, 2008
Ava
rated it:
When this book first came out, I was living in Saudi Arabia and it caused quite a stir - so much so that it was banned in Kingdom. I was teaching ESL at the time, and the women in my classes were frantic to get their hands on a copy of it. Turns out the enthusiasm they felt was short lived - as in as soon as they started reading it.
The book is written as a series of emails between a group of young Saudi women, and to folks who, like my students, had little experience reading fiction More...
The book is written as a series of emails between a group of young Saudi women, and to folks who, like my students, had little experience reading fiction More...
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(10 people liked it)
Aug 12, 2009
Nora
rated it:
لا جديد، قصص مكرورة ربما تشدّ من لم يقرأ أشباهاً لها. وأسلوب متوسط الجودة. اشتهرت لأسباب كثيرة ليس من بينها محتواها، ولعلي قرأت في مجالها ما هو أفضل منها.
أعجب أن تُرجمت إلى الإنجليزية في فترة وجيزة. هل عدمنا فناً وأدباً يصل إلى العالم خيراً من هذا؟
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أعجب أن تُرجمت إلى الإنجليزية في فترة وجيزة. هل عدمنا فناً وأدباً يصل إلى العالم خيراً من هذا؟
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May 18, 2008
Mashael
rated it:
تعتمد على الفضيحة كـ أساس للشهرة عاديه جداً هشة جداً رواية للمرهقين
لا أتحامل على الكاتبه ولا أحمل لها أي ضغينة لكن أرى أنها لو هذبتها قليلاً ولم تستعجل النشر ربما كانت بطريقة أدبيه أفضل من كلام المنتديات
ربما مايحسب لها فقط هو أنها تجرأت بطرح الواقع المرير الذي نعشية والإنحدار الشديد الذي يخفيه المجتمع تحت عبائة الدين More...
لا أتحامل على الكاتبه ولا أحمل لها أي ضغينة لكن أرى أنها لو هذبتها قليلاً ولم تستعجل النشر ربما كانت بطريقة أدبيه أفضل من كلام المنتديات
ربما مايحسب لها فقط هو أنها تجرأت بطرح الواقع المرير الذي نعشية والإنحدار الشديد الذي يخفيه المجتمع تحت عبائة الدين More...
17 comments
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(8 people liked it)
May 30, 2010
Mademoiselle-Nana
rated it:
قرأتها و ياليتني لم أقرأها !
3 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Jan 29, 2012
Shahad
rated it: 
Girls Of Riyadh
Where could i possibly begin?
I will begin with the first time I saw it on the "Best Sellers" shelf in one of our local bookshops in Kuwait. The cover attracted me so I grabbed it and read few lines of random pages of the book and ended up liking it but i did not buy it at the time and bought "Shadow Kiss, Vampire Academy" Instead. Each time I paid a visit to the same bookshop I saw it there, laying then grabbed it and hesitated to buy it. Again. Un More...
Where could i possibly begin?
I will begin with the first time I saw it on the "Best Sellers" shelf in one of our local bookshops in Kuwait. The cover attracted me so I grabbed it and read few lines of random pages of the book and ended up liking it but i did not buy it at the time and bought "Shadow Kiss, Vampire Academy" Instead. Each time I paid a visit to the same bookshop I saw it there, laying then grabbed it and hesitated to buy it. Again. Un More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
May 07, 2008
Pera
rated it:
Beberapa tahun lalu pernah mendapat email tentang hebohnya buku ini di negera asalnya, Saudi Arabia.
Penasaran, jadi ku beli saja.
Aku merasa kata "menghebohkan" tentang buku ini, terlalu di lebih-lebihkan.
Kisah cinta yang di balut dengan tuntutan sistem, seperti mengulang kisah sastra ala siti nurbaya, tapi versi arab.
Tapi yah..buku ini hebohnya di Arab ya..
mungkin budaya disana memang sulit menerima terungkapnya hal-hal tentang percintaan.
More...
Penasaran, jadi ku beli saja.
Aku merasa kata "menghebohkan" tentang buku ini, terlalu di lebih-lebihkan.
Kisah cinta yang di balut dengan tuntutan sistem, seperti mengulang kisah sastra ala siti nurbaya, tapi versi arab.
Tapi yah..buku ini hebohnya di Arab ya..
mungkin budaya disana memang sulit menerima terungkapnya hal-hal tentang percintaan.
More...
2 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Apr 25, 2008
Santika
rated it:
The Girls of Riyadh sebenarnya adalah kumpulan postingan email seseorang yang kemudian dibukukan. Buku ini pada akhirnya dilarang terbit di negara aslinya dan menuai banyak protes (bahkan ketika masih berupa email sudah membuat kontroversi).
Buku ini sebenarnya mendeskripsikan bagaimana kebudayaan bangsa Arab Saudi dalam pernikahan. Bangsa Arab dianggap bukanlah bangsa yang menghargai cinta, terutama seorang wanita. Berdasarkan keterangan penulisnya, kisah yang dimuat merupakan kisah nyata More...
Buku ini sebenarnya mendeskripsikan bagaimana kebudayaan bangsa Arab Saudi dalam pernikahan. Bangsa Arab dianggap bukanlah bangsa yang menghargai cinta, terutama seorang wanita. Berdasarkan keterangan penulisnya, kisah yang dimuat merupakan kisah nyata More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 28, 2011
Odai
rated it:
لم تحظ رواية في تاريخ السعودية وما جاورها من جارتها الدول من صيت كما حظت به هذه الرواية ...حسب شهادة قسم المبيعات العربية في مكتبة جريرعندما سألته أجاب المسؤولون في كل الفروع أن مبيعاتها هي الأفضل وكانت بأرقام خيالية ..إمتدت هذه الشهرة لدرجة أوسع في دول العالم العربي
والسؤال هنا ما هذه الخلطة السرية التي ابتكرتها رجاء الصانع في روايتها والتي استدعت كل هذه الجلبة لها .....رواية رجاء جاءت ممتعة سلسة مسلية بالطبع ليست هناك أي فائدة ثقافية تذكر سوى أنها شرحت بعض من الحالة السطحية التي ي More...
والسؤال هنا ما هذه الخلطة السرية التي ابتكرتها رجاء الصانع في روايتها والتي استدعت كل هذه الجلبة لها .....رواية رجاء جاءت ممتعة سلسة مسلية بالطبع ليست هناك أي فائدة ثقافية تذكر سوى أنها شرحت بعض من الحالة السطحية التي ي More...
4 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Mar 22, 2008
Amanda
rated it:
This is essentially Saudi chick lit, but I really liked it despite that.
The stories can resound with any girl,(unless my love life is really that fucked up that nobody agrees with this,) but there's also a special twist that makes this different from the run-of-the mill girly stories. The girls bring life living in an Islamic kingdom to the table, and what that means to their freedoms or lack thereof in relationships. As women, we all suffer a lot at the hands of men, no matter how More...
The stories can resound with any girl,(unless my love life is really that fucked up that nobody agrees with this,) but there's also a special twist that makes this different from the run-of-the mill girly stories. The girls bring life living in an Islamic kingdom to the table, and what that means to their freedoms or lack thereof in relationships. As women, we all suffer a lot at the hands of men, no matter how More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
May 22, 2008
Rahmadiyanti
rated it:
Di cover edisi Indonesia ada stempel "Kisah nyata: Dilarang Beredar di Saudi Arabia". Jadi bikin penasaran emang. Isinya sendiri lumayan lah... meski kalo ditinjau dari kisah bertema sama (cinta), ya nggak terlalu istimewa. Tapi karena settingnya Arab (yang selama ini dikenal “tertutup” dan ketat menerapkan syariah), kisah 4 gadis Riyadh ini memang jadi menarik perhatian. Penulis berusaha mendobrak tradisi dan “kekakuan” masyarakat Arab, terutama soal kedudukan perempuan.
Pen More...
Pen More...
Aug 13, 2007
Becky
rated it:
What I learned from this book is more about the Middle-Eastern culture, which is one of the reasons I picked up this book. Having read an entire college semester in Arabic literature, I thought I would try this book. While it was infinitely interesting learning about Arabian women, I really did not enjoy this book as much as I was expecting. It really seemed like a pseudo-soap opera, just set in Riyadh, instead of some made up city. I did enjoy reading about the differences in cultures, not just
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0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Feb 20, 2009
HaNaDy
rated it:
استمعت بقرائتها واندمجت فيها برغم المصلطحات الغريبة الى كتير مبفهماش بتكن فى المقدمة فقط لكن غير كده اسلوب السرد جميل ومن ناحية المحتوى فانا شايفة انها إيجابية جدا وبتعالج ثقافة شكل بشكل مباشر ومهذب تجعلك تشعر بكل مشكله كأنها مشكلتك اتمنى انها تقدر تغير فى ثقافة بعض الرجال أولا والبنات ثانيا وهيا بتنطبق على شعوب كتير مش السعودية فقط
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2 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Apr 08, 2010
Belky
rated it:
Ladies, if you want to get a little idea of how woman deal with their social lives here in the Kingdom, I recommend this book.
It is a bunch of emails written by a Saudi girl who decided to share her friends deepest secrets. I can't tell you that everything is true but from what I have seen so far, the marriage part is true.
Yesterday I was pretty sure I saw a woman driving in Jeddah, the car was going crazy in a very small street, and the windows were super tinted, but the driver was More...
It is a bunch of emails written by a Saudi girl who decided to share her friends deepest secrets. I can't tell you that everything is true but from what I have seen so far, the marriage part is true.
Yesterday I was pretty sure I saw a woman driving in Jeddah, the car was going crazy in a very small street, and the windows were super tinted, but the driver was More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Lee
rated it:
I literally could not put this book down (I read it in one night)and am trying to decide whether it is a "trashy" "chicklit" novel with little redeeming value or a brilliant cultural expose. Suffice it to say that it reminded me of my (now highly educated and divorced from arranged marriage) "godchild" who spent much of her adolescence in Riyadh to the point that I thought at times that I was reading about her and that the author was sued in Saudi Arabia for slander
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0 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 19, 2009
نبيل
rated it:
ليس هناك قيمة أدبية تذكر على الرغم من الهزة التي احدثتها في المجتمع الذي يهزه اي شئ طالما عناصر "الهز" متوفرة من عنوان ملفت وكاتبة وتقديم شخص بمستوى الدكتور الأديب غازي القصيبي. أخذت منها الرواية 6 سنوات لكتابتها. لو أنها أمضت هذا الوقت للقراءة المكثفة لساعدتها على كتابة رواية أكثر عمقا. أنصح أن لا تتعجل في روايتها القادمة وأن تتعلم من سلبياتها قبل إيجابياتها. الرواية كانت دافعا للشباب من الجنسين للقراءة فهذه ايجابية تحسب لها لتشجيعهم على مسك الكتاب . لا اتفق مع البعض بأنها سلسلة فضائح
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Dec 08, 2008
Jane
rated it:
I didn't have time to read everyone's reviews tonight, but the 30 or so I did read or skim didn't mention what seemed most outstanding about the book (and regrettable about the culture, if the book is accurate): the parallels with the Jane Austen novels and with Memoirs of a Geisha, where finding a husband (or a patron) is paramount to everything else and necessary for survival of one sort or another. The tragedy here is that the women discussed have the advantages of wealth and advanced educat
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0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Dec 07, 2008
Bonnie
rated it:
When I saw this book at Costco it immediately caught my attention. It looked pretty interesting, but after being burned a number of times buying books by unfamiliar authors I wasn't sure I should get it. But I did and was glad I did.
Each chapter of the book is purported to be an e-mail from the author to a group of unknown people in Saudi Arabia who have indicated interest. The first part of each chapter is generally the author responding to criticism or other comments from those who ha More...
Each chapter of the book is purported to be an e-mail from the author to a group of unknown people in Saudi Arabia who have indicated interest. The first part of each chapter is generally the author responding to criticism or other comments from those who ha More...
Jan 30, 2012
Bsma125
rated it:
أوه رحمة الله على تلك الأيام ، أعتقد أني قرأت هذه الرواية منذ حوالي أربع سنوات ، لا أريد أن أتطرق للتفاصيل أو حتى مضمون الرواية فقط أحب أن أنوّه أنها ليست رواية ، محض دردشة محض كما يُقال بالعاميّة " سوالف " و لا تمت بالعمل الأدبي بصلّة خاصةً مع حشو الكتاب بالكلمات العاميّة ، لا أنكر أني استمتعت و من ذا الذي لا يستمتع بـ " السوالف " و الدردشة ؟ ، أعتقد أن الكاتبة كانت جريئة في طرحها بحكم الزوبعة التي أثيرت حول هذه الرواية - و لولى الزوبعة لما تجرأت باقتناء رواية تتحدث باللهجة
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4 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 05, 2012
CaterinaAnna
rated it:
Many years ago I passed through Dubai airport on a semi-regular basis and realised just how much bling an abaya could, and often did, conceal. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find that this doesn't, in spite of the blurb, have quite as much emphasis on labels as Sex and the City or even the Shopaholic books. It was interesting to find examples of how people in another culture square the pressures of living in an increasingly global hegemony with those of their own tradition - or not, a
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Dec 10, 2011
ميثم
rated it:
كتاب لا يحمل اي قيمة ادبية من وجهة نظري الخاصة
حاولت ان اتجاوز الصفحة الاولى فلم استطع, كتب باسلوب اقل ما يقال عنه انه كلام انشائي لا يخضع للادب, ومن الاجحاف لها ان نصفها بالرواية فتصف جنب الى جنب مع عمالة الروايات الادبية
اكتسبت شهرة عريضة بسبب تعرضها لبعض المفاهيم المحضورة,وهو ما اكسبها شهرة وجعل الكثيرين يبحثون عنها وكنت منهم, وكنت اريد معرفة ما كتبته, لكن لم استطع واكتفيت بقراءة تعليقات وردرود فعل القراء
تعاملت الكاتبة رجاء الصانع بذكاء مع روايتها,فاولا ضلت تبحث عن غازي القصيب More...
حاولت ان اتجاوز الصفحة الاولى فلم استطع, كتب باسلوب اقل ما يقال عنه انه كلام انشائي لا يخضع للادب, ومن الاجحاف لها ان نصفها بالرواية فتصف جنب الى جنب مع عمالة الروايات الادبية
اكتسبت شهرة عريضة بسبب تعرضها لبعض المفاهيم المحضورة,وهو ما اكسبها شهرة وجعل الكثيرين يبحثون عنها وكنت منهم, وكنت اريد معرفة ما كتبته, لكن لم استطع واكتفيت بقراءة تعليقات وردرود فعل القراء
تعاملت الكاتبة رجاء الصانع بذكاء مع روايتها,فاولا ضلت تبحث عن غازي القصيب More...
