I read this one when trying to read more about palestine.

You Exist Too Much follows a story of culture clash, a young American of Palestinian descent who struggles between the expectations of her Arab heritage and her quest to come into her own, an out and proud bisexual woman.

This book is short but punchy. At the heart of You Exist Too Much lies addiction: addiction to love, romantic love, specifically romantic love that involves unavailable older women, false idealizations of potential partners, and rejecting healthy intimacy.

“It is a bizarre and unsettling feeling, to exist in a liminal state between two realms, unable to attain full access to one or the other.”

This is more of a character study than a plot driven book so please keep that in mind before picking it up!

This is a character study rather than a ‘novel’
This is a very well written book.
This book moved me
A good book

This book truly took me by surprise. Getting to read from the perspective of a Palestinian-American woman was refreshing and most definitely interesting! I definitely would love to read more from the Palestinian diaspora! It was hard to read at times because the character and her actions made me so terribly sad, but I would still recommend it!

Thank you so much to dialogue/LB for my earc of this book. A very compelling novel and I loved the exploration of love/relationships.

I loved this book so much that I now have my own copy! It is dizzying and compelling and so sumptuous. It is like sunning yourself beside a pool when you know you're supposed to be working. It is celebration of all things queer and young and alive.

A fleeting, novel told in short sharp chapters, You Exist too much is a fascinating character study. The narrative jumps around in time and place to tell the story of our unnamed protagonist, a Palestinian-American woman who, in the present timeline, is attending a clinic for love addiction.

The mother / daughter relationship is a big theme in the book, with our protagonist struggling for approval from her mother especially after coming out to her as queer. We see her explore her sexual identity over her early adulthood and the continuous cycle she falls into with new relationships.

This was such an immersive reading experience, I loved the voice of the protagonist and found the form of the novel very compelling. One I will revisit for sure.

Gorgeous writing, this book really gripped me. Perfect read for the hot summer holidays.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Thanks NetGalley for providing me with the ARC.

Sadly I did not finish this book. I hate not finishing books so this is a huge thing for me. This book had SO MUCH potential. I felt like there was no real plot. The protagonist wasn‘t really likeable. The bi rep wasn’t the Nest. I did not enjoy this book.

Gave up on this one because the author fails to deliver what she promises. Our protagonist, a Palestinian trying to figure life, freedom, and sexuality in America sounds like a great premise. However, the book can get emotionally heavy and there are triggers lying in plain sight. I just couldn't do it after a point in time

I loved this, it's a must read, and should be for everybody. She's the daughter of Palestinian parents, living in the United States. Their relationship isn't one to be praised. The title of the book are the words spoken by the daughter's mother, to her, when she becomes overly emotional, especially when she tries to come out. This story is all about a culture clash, this a young girl is growing up as an American of Palestinian descent but she isn't free like those around her to live as she chooses. She struggles regularly between the expectations of her Arab parents and upbringing the and her desire to come into her own, an live the life she chooses. It was a very good read, I highly recommend it.

This was a great debut read for me . It's a very character driven book so if you like a character study rather than a story as such then you will enjoy this. The protagonist is a bisexual Palestinian woman who is struggling with her sexual identity as well as her toxic relationship with her mother. The book switches between the US and the Middle East and we get to see the issues faced by someone with a dual cultural identity. A lot of issues are dealt with in this book, culture, religion, sex, mental health however it doesn't make for a hard read so don't let this put you off.
I will certainly pick up more from Zaina in the future.
Thanks you Netgalley for this ARC

I wish I could give this book more love, I really do. I think it was a really great premise but a lot of my experience with reading comes from enjoying seeing the world through the main character's eyes, and I just did not enjoy our main character in this one. This book seeks to challenge the viewpoint young LGBTQ+ people often have of themselves when they come from traditional and conservative backgrounds, such as our narrator coming from a Palestinian-American background. This book promises a lot, a journey through self-destructive tendencies, a troubled familial past, and other issues that have arisen in our narrator's history. Instead, we follow her go through hook up after hook up, toxic relationship after toxic relationship, an obsession from obsession. Our narrator is self-centred, naive and a little hypocritical, slamming others when they cheat on her when she has also openly cheated herself.

I have been left a little confused by what this books message is. I don't feel like I've come away with a greater understanding of the experiences felt across this underrepresented community, just an annoyance that this character wasn't more. I wanted more. I needed more to enjoy this book to it's full extent. I felt like Anna, one of the many people she "accidentally" screwed over had her pegged. She played people and their hearts and I'm not sure this was something that was ever resolved in this character's journey.

A well written and interesting debut. I loved the style of writing and hope to read other books by this author.
Excellent character and plot development, an interesting new voice.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Love and desire can devastate you, but it can also lift you up. Love can be addictive.
Zaina Arafat has created this excellent book about the most curious protagonist who is struggling with just that - to love and to be loved, but also her identity as a woman who loves both women and men, her Palestinian background (she moves from the United States to the Middle East in the book) and her relationship with her mother, who doesn't accept her choices. She exists too much.
This could easily be a weighed down story, but it was the opposite, the protagonist (who remains unnamed) was at points funny, fresh and honest.. I loved being on this ride with her. Incredibly enjoyable read and as said before, difficult to put down! 4.5/5

Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for my e-copy.

Another brilliant read! I was drawn to the title of the book "you exist too much" and it didn't disappoint me. This book is about a bisexual protagonist who is self-sabotaging among the chaos of love, desire, and a difficult relationship with her mother. This book also reflects on mental health and love addiction.

A must-read book for someone who loves to explore multiple layers and dimensions of human emotions.

Thank you, NetGalley for giving me this opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Despite what the blurb says, this memoir is mainly about a queer woman's journey towards acceptance - within herself and from her mother. It follows her from the messy end of a relationship, through weeks in a rather oddball therapy retreat and finally towards an understanding of her behavioural patterns and childhood. It jumps around a lot and as this is a memoir, the writer is frustratingly real at times (making poor choices, etc) but on the whole, was an interesting read.

This is a provocative novel in which the MC attempts to figure out who she is and accept herself,
This story was able to entrance me from the beginning, and immerse me in the plot, as if I was living the story myself.
Arafat is clearly an extremely talented writer, and she describes perfectly the feeling of being caught up in different cultures and learning to accept oneself. I can't wait to read more from her!

Really enjoyed this tale about a lost young woman, trying to find herself as a bisexual love addicted soul with a ton of emotional baggage inflicted by her mother. It is very well written and empathetic while being harsh on her decisions. The descriptions of a not quite mainstream rehab were also brilliant.

Wasn't sure what I expected when I read this, but I'm very glad that I did. It took me on a rollercoaster of emotions, culminating in smooth sailing. Relatable if you've grown up with a conservative family or questioning your orientation.

I was really excited to be approved this on Net Galley as the blurb made me expect a novel about what it’s like to be queer and living in Palestine/The Middle East. However when reading the novel it’s more about how the protagonist deals with her sex addiction. ⠀
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I did really enjoy the storyline with her mother, we see a lot of the structured patriarchy rules imposed on the protagonist, how she takes up too much space, how she shouldn’t draw attention to herself, she is wrong for being queer. Watching the protagonist flashback to incidents like this as a young girl helps you understand why she has such a complicated relationship with her mother. ⠀
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I also found it interesting when reading about the many dates that the protagonist went on and how they put up with being in toxic relationships because they either didn’t feel like they deserved better or they didn’t want to end the relationship and be alone which felt very realistic and well done. I won’t spoil anything but I was also really happy to see that this protagonists story ended well and I felt really satisfied by the ending. Overall I really enjoyed this book, however i did find that it was much more about having a sex addiction than it was about coming to terms with being queer when knowing that your parents wouldn’t be supportive.