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samchase112's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Rape, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War
Minor: Genocide, Vomit, and Antisemitism
gwarren's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
stellenelcielo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The parallels the main character in part 2 found herself in made me so nervous. This book was haunting and so heartbreaking. I will be thinking about this book for a long time, I’m certain.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Vomit, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
anneklein's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Yet throughout the violence, a few images appear of life pushing forward regardless. At one point, the commander finds a spider in his hut and spends the next hours looking for insects and crushing them under his feet. The metaphor here is so clear, even more so when considering the military boot as the specific foot that tramples them. And "meanwhile, a little insect advanced towards the edge of the room and slipped through a crack between the floor and the wall, escaping into the gap" (p. 23). After cutting the girl's hair and burning it in a pile alongside her clothes: "Far from the flames that consumed her clothes, a few tiny black ringlets of hair remained scattered across the sand" (34). Finally, on one of the commander's escapades into the hills, "a small black bird charted a line through the sky, which turned a deeper shade of blue [...]" (48).
Each of these minor details, woven so subtly they pass as atmosphere, insist that life prevails, no matter how intense the violence or how unmatched an oppressor may seem. The bird imagery also comes to mind during the second part of the book, as a point of comparison with our narrator's life experience which is in its essence defined by borders (so much so that they are in her head, too).
The second part of the book is so cleverly interwoven with the first, in catastrophic ways that are only apparent once it is too late to turn back. From the beginning we have a parallel in the image of the dog howling, but little by little, as our narrator gets closer to the origin of the story she investigates, details resurface from the first part of the book. Often, these minor details even appear with their wording nearly unchanged from the way they initially appeared. Compare, for example, "carrying a hose wrapped around his arm in equal-sized rings" (30) and "on the sand lies a hose, neatly running from one tree to the next and coiled in equal-sized rings around each trunk" (96). Or "thick clouds of sand sprung from underneath the vehicle's tyres, rose up and followed after them, completely obscuring the view behind" (10), compared to this passage from part 2: "Despite how cautiously I'm driving, thick clouds of dust rise up and swiftly form a halo that obscures the scene behind me" (105).
Through the minor details of our narrator's journey, we realise, in a moment of dramatic irony, that the story she is chasing is one she is already recreating. Her search turns her into a living participant of the story, includes her in ways that go beyond mere research. The truth lies not necessarily in the specific answers of what had happened, but in the shared lived experience between her and the girl from part 1. By the time we follow this logic to its inevitable conclusion, it is much too late.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
devipurwanti's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Penggambaran situasi dalam buku ini sangat detail, sesuai judulnya. Dari hal sederhana seperti rutinitas mandi—aku bahkan bisa mengendus aroma tentara itu di gurun—sampai deskripsi diorama di museum Israel. Meskipun terkadang menjemukan tetapi ini mendukung imajinasiku yang terbatas untuk ikut hadir di situasi yang penulis bangun. Buku ini mendesakku untuk mengumpat “anjing” sebelum akhirnya ditutup dengan kehampaan.
Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Animal cruelty and Injury/Injury detail
christinereichard's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The writing's brevity was fantastic. So objective, so detached, but so revealing all the same. I winced many times in discomfort during the first half, only to be driven forward by the protagonist's discomfort in the second half. The choice to not name any characters but to frequently share the changing names of locations. The protagonist's paralleling minor details. The hypocrisy of the museum curator!
Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
amberinpieces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
sadhbh2525's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Vomit
colormecaro's review against another edition
5.0
Even if the narrator in the second half of the book says it is. Details like being used to bombings and shelling and opening a window to avoid it shattering in an explosion but being upset about the dust. Not minor.
🇵🇸 Free Palestine 🇵🇸
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Police brutality