Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Black Butterflies

This is a deeply moving book that chronicles the life and times of Sarajevans as their city slips slowly out of their grasp and into the depths of war. The narrative masterfully conveys the creeping sense of dread that things will not get better, interlaced with moments of unity and hope. It aims not to sensationalise or to shock, but to give a true sense of what life was like for ordinary people in Sarajevo in that first brutal year of the war - and it illustrates this with breathtaking clarity. Should be compulsory reading for everyone in light of the war in Ukraine.

Content Warnings

booking_along's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a very well written and hard to read but great novel.

“… do you know what people are calling them? … Black Butterflies… burnet fragments of poetry and art catching in people’s hair.”

this book doesn’t shy away from showing the horror of war from the side of the daily lives of typical people just trying to survive in a horrific situation.

it shows how people can come together, lean on each other help each other through hard situations but also how horrific people can be and most of all this book show just how utterly senseless and stupid war really is.

that it just kills and destroys senselessly and never actually achieves anything positive no matter the outcome since the price on all sides is always too high.

this book had beautiful passages, great characters, frustrating moments and heartbreaking moments.

i did feel like ending was rushed and i wish there would have at least been a little paragraph at the end about all those people left behind in the war zone and what happened to them.

they where just as much characters if this story as Zora was.

i understand why the book ended as it did but i do wish it could have been given just a little more about some of the other characters too.

i think this book is an extremely timely novel, not just to tell a historical event and show the horror of that but also because too many wars are being fought and never shared in this way.

“We’re all refugees now. we spend our days waiting for water, for bread, for humanitarian handouts: beggars in our own city.”

so having a novel that really shows the daily struggles and horror of living in a city that is being bombed and fired on, where people still need to continue on just trying to survive somehow…
this book really does that well.

just as it shows just how wonderful people can be, even in the darkest moments.

honestly the only thing i saw coming but didn’t enjoy was

the sexual relationship between zora and her neighbor

not even that it happened but how it happens and than its basically ignored in favor of telling a different aspect of the characters journey. so why include it?

especially since we never get a clear answer of what happens with the neighbor after Zora leaves.

i would highly recommend this book.

the author has an incredible way with words and manages -fittingly enough since Zora is a painter- paint a clear picture of the situations in the book in ways that really sink into you while reading the story that makes it feel almost too realistic.
my heart raced through some moments in the story, i reared up in others… this book packed a punch through the words the author chose.

and i think that combined with the story itself was an incredible powerful combination.

It’s the kind of book that sticks with you and isn’t a light and easy read but one that makes you think and reflect and most of all: relate to the people in the story and their situation.

Fantastic book!

very well done!

Content Warnings

amy_park's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.0

Vivid in colour and in story, this book doesn't shy away from the horror of war and living under seige. Spanning across a year from the beginning of the seige in Sarajevo during the early 1990s, the book follows Zora (and her neighbours) and her choice to stay in her beloved city whilst her family lives/move to England. The language was very immersive, I loved the use of colour throughout as Zora is an artist. Paintings and imagery of bridges centered the novel away from the catastrophy of war. I felt this book tried to explore alot in 270-ish pages, and I didn't feel as connected with the characters as I had hoped.

especiallly with the love storyline, i felt it was very abrupt towards the end and maybe a device from the author for Zora to yurn for Sarajevo after leaving, as she has nothing else to draw her back

I did overall like the book and I discovered a part of history that I wasn't aware of before. It sparked my interest to learn more about Yugoslavian history.

Content Warnings

your_true_shelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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