Reviews

The Attack by Yasmina Khadra

ecstasia's review

1.0

sophistic emotive writing to convince us the good arabs are who surrender to Israel and that palestenians are barbaric ignorant child abusers. The agenda is clear af, despite the very good writing. The author's French is impeccable but i'm not here for the normalization of israel

e4rth2m4rs's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.75

This book made me feel things. The end is brilliant, the author writes so beautifully. The overall message is delivered through dialogues with people from opposing views and allows the readers to make up their minds.

ni57's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

oliviasholmes's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

lale_anic's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

jacki_f's review against another edition

4.0

Amin Jaafie is an Israeli Arab and non-practising Muslim who works as a surgeon in Tel Aviv. He is devoted to his wife Sihem and life is good. Until one day a suicide bomber blows up a restaurant - killing 19 people including many children - and all the evidence suggests that his wife is the perpetrator. As Jaafie moves through denial to grief, confusion and anger, he is determined to understand what could have driven his wife to do such a thing. His quest will take him around Israel and the West Bank, allowing us the reader to see the different sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict.

This is a gripping book which is hard to put down. You feel Jaafie's emotions throughout. Like Justin in The Constant Gardener, his need to understand a side of his wife that he didn't previously know about will lead him into dangerous situations.

While there were occasional clunky notes which are probably down to the translation, this is overall a moving and engrossing read.

garanciels's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

toskalou's review against another edition

Abandonné à la moitié. Les grandes tirades sentencieuses de Khadra sur l'esprit humain et autres envolées lyriques à la subtilité grotesque me gonflent.

zayouxx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

douaaa's review against another edition

4.0

Même si on lit la fin en premier on l’oublie grâce à l’écriture envoûtante de monsieur khadra
La Palestine est la patrie de cœur de tous les algériens lire à son sujet m’a fait verser plusieurs larmes même si l’horreur de la guerre qui s’y tient n’a pas été pleinement décrite
Suivre amine dans la quête de son deuil à la recherche de la vérité était douloureux voir un veuf aux blessures fraîches découvrir des vérités de plus en plus glaçantes qu’on lui a refusé brise le cœur du lecteur il s’acharne par son amour à ne rien laisser ternir l’image de sa dulcinée qui elle nous transcende avec son amour pour sa patrie que je respecte au plus profond de mon être
Yasmina khadra réussit à nous faire vivre le chagrin la perte d’un être chère le combat pour la terre mère et l’affrontement des idéologies et des ressentis