You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris

36 reviews

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I really really enjoyed this, a very human view of war and its effects. I dont really know anything about this period in history and i think that reflected zoras own bafflement at what is happening. It’s beautifully written and while i didnt cry it came really close a few times.

Potential spoilers in quotes

‘The threshold between night and day feels uncertain, as if she could just as easily slip back into the night as go forwards into the day.’

‘Surely, the so-called Chetniks will shave off their beards and put their grandfather uniforms back in their dressing-up boxes.’

‘Zora stares at the opening, which is greyish white. The colour of nothing - of the void.’

‘Upstairs, it's the space under the arch in her painting that consumes her attention. She spends an age mixing the exact colour. She exaggerates its roundness and is depth. She wants the hole both to recede and at the same time to dominate in an unsettling way, pushing and pulling the viewer, so that the eye, wanting to be drawn to the beauty of the architecture of the stone arch above, or to the gorgeous yellow of the spear-headed flower in the foreground, will continually resist and slide back, halfwilling, half-dragged, into the cave-like void under the bridge.’

‘Everything came into focus as if with the twist of a kaleidoscope.’

‘The woman lies lifeless on the tarmac, her back curved, as if protectively, around a pool of dark blood.’

‘And although she'd tried to explain, her mother hadn't understood at all. And the more Zora had talked, the more she realised she had no idea why this war was happening either.’

‘She finds a candle in the dressing table drawer, but its glow only seems to intensify the stickiness of the halflight that filters through bin bags hanging over the broken windows. Unfamiliar shadows brush against her shins.’

‘The boxes of humanitarian aid are a blessing and a joke.’

‘Looking back to the fire, she realises that what she took for crows circling the Vijecnica are the burnt pages of books. The fragments of her paintings will be there, too, rising and falling over the pyre.’

‘'Black butterflies… Burnt fragments of poetry and art catching in people's hair.'’

‘Behind the walls of snow the sun must be shining quite brightly, because her flat, normally as dark as the grave, is almost radiant with soft white light. Everything seems more manageable now. Soon the holes and craters in the buildings and roads will be masked and Sarajevo will appear beautiful again.’

‘The flat is drawing in on itself, Zora thinks as she inches closer to the stove each night. It's being taken over, room by room, by ice, wind and snow. By the outside. By the war.’

‘The mountains press close and folds of silencing snow lie on the rooftops of the houses below.’

‘It's hard to tell whether this is the first streak of the rising sun or the reflection of buildings on fire.’

‘But Sarajevo is entirely hidden, thank God. Not a tower block, minaret or steeple breaks through the white. Better that way.

Better not to be able to see.’

‘But the thing is she didn't die. No, she went on, just as everyone goes on.

There are no beginnings and no endings. Just war.’

Content Warnings

ellieisreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

solasuaine's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

amy_park's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

literaryscouser's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book excellently explores the war in Sarajevo. It is handled with great delicately and empathy. This story is one of dispare, hope, war, freedom, trials and overcoming them. Overall a beautiful book that reveals the harsh reality of trying to flee, not just a war zone, but your home to be reunited with your family while exploring the deep connections with the people around you, who are living through the same trauma.

Content Warnings

More...