If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English

by Noor Naga

part 1 was structurally weird enough, what with no paragraphs and the perspective flipping back and forth … It was really hard to follow, plot-wise, and just left so many questions unanswered—

I agree, i didnt realize that i was reading two dofferent perspectives until part 2 makes me want to reread all of part one but then again it doesnt feel worth it it feels like i missed a big chunk of the book basically

And, like, vaginal teeth—whoa. Amazing. I think if anything we should get more of those friendly asides, and maybe also more sensory detail? After all this time, I still don’t know what downtown Cairo looks like. Is it skyscrapers? Are there markets or malls? What are the women wearing in the street? And, like, the village Shobrakeet—[shrugs] I can’t picture it at all. You have to remember we have zero references, so unless we’re given a shit-ton of description, we’re probably going to get it wrong.

Im kind of confused, are these actual peoples reviews on the book and if so, why include it in the book? It just feels so random.. Theyre giving constructive criticism as well so why not just fix the book with these notes instead of using them for book content? I may have to deduct a star because of the confusion the book has given me.

Shobrakit

Theyre not even spelling it the same way they did at the beginning of the book. The discrepancies are elementary. This reminds me of a high school persuasive essay or debate.

He was going to murder William when he accidentally fell off the balcony himself.

That clears up some confusion, i thought william died

Like the way tabloids talk about women—and it’s not just tabloids, I mean, it’s a bigger problem, obviously. But we demand all this emotional labor from them. We reward loyalty and punish women for choosing independence—for choosing survival, actually.

Then the subject is clear. It is not about Cairo, it is a deadly romance.